Brecon’s small but visible community of Nepalese people is made up of those settled here - about 70 families - and those stationed here with the British Army for 18 months to two years. We spoke to Guptaman Gurung and his daughter, Garima, about their experiences.
Guptaman came to Brecon twice before his final tour that lead to him settling here. Like other Gurkhas he had also seen service in Hong Kong and Brunei as well as other parts of Britain. There are larger Gurkha communities in Hampshire, Kent and Yorkshire. Guptaman has been active with his own community with the local Nepalese Society and the wider community too.
Overall, they are very glad to have come to Brecon even though this means they get less support for things like translation than larger gurkha communities. For some Gurkhas the rurality of Brecon is a benefit, but many will have had to live in cities in Nepal and worldwide. Guptaman starts by telling us how he and his wife, eventually, came to live in Brecon and his eventual retirement here, ‘this lovely place’. Like others from his community, he likes to visit Nepal.
It's important to keep our culture alive and language is part of that "
We also spoke to Garima about language and culture. She knows English and much Nepali and knows some Nepali children who have some Welsh but her knowledge of the Gurung language of her parents is not good.
I don't know what the chemical is between the welsh people and the Gurkhas, but they get on very well "
The Nepalese community help each other but also help in the community. The Gurkha path is one example.
Guptaman was instrumental in the establishment of the award-winning Gurkha Path along the banks of the Usk near the town. They saw it as a thank you for the people of Brecon’s generous contributions to earthquake relief in 2015. Guptaman and Garima recognise the importance of maintaining their culture but increasingly connections with Nepal are now maintained through video calls.
Enjoy listening to the full interview to gain insight into Brecon's special Nepalese community.
Every now and then when I go down South, I kind of you know, feel like when will I go back to my place of Brecon, I start missing Brecon a lot "