SFBAPPA's Photonite presents photographer Jane Tyska, staff photographer/videographer/multimedia reporter with the Oakland Tribune/Bay Area Newsgroup. She will be speaking on her recent project which follows a Bhutanese refugee family from a camp in eastern Nepal to their new home in Oakland.

The Mainali family spent 18 years living in a hut at Beldangi Refugee Camp No. 2 in Eastern Nepal before beginning a new life in Oakland where several family members already resided. The U.S. government began allowing Bhutanese refugees into the country in 2008, and their Bay Area community is growing. The government helps them out with cash, MediCal and food stamp assistance for the first 8 months, and then they must support themselves. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) runs the camps in Nepal, and the latest refugee count is at approximately 108,000. Over 30,000 have voluntarily immigrated to the U.S. since the resettlement began.

A little more about Jane:
Jane Tyska began photographing at age five on a kindergarten field trip to the Bronx Zoo, and hasn¹t stopped since. Primarily a still photographer, Jane is now also a videographer and multimedia reporter at the Oakland Tribune/Bay Area News Group, using new technology to tell stories for the web. She's won numerous awards for both for stills and video, and recently spent a month in Bhutan and Nepal following a Bhutanese refugee family from a camp in eastern Nepal to their new home in Oakland.

Photonite had a scheduling conflict with the Woolfe House for the use of the Gallery so the Woolfe House has been most generous in allowing us to use their cafeteria as we have occasionally done in the past. The cafeteria is in back and we will make it as easy as possible to find it. As of now, just plan to come in the gallery entrance as you usually do. There may be a sign directing you throgh the main doors into the Woolfe house.

Photonite is a very casual get together.
It's a pot luck - so please bring something to share to eat.
SFBAPPA will supply drinks and sometimes additional food.
No alcohol for any students under 21.

For more information about Photonite, please contact:
Jessica Lifland
Director, SF Photonite
jess [at] jessicalifland.com