Special Olympics Nepal Program leader Pandit Sarbeswori suggested an innovative approach, which was to cultivate a program in Jhapa, a Bhutanese refugee camp in the northeastern end of Nepal, near Bhutan. It was a safe option. The camp, established in the early 1990s, housed an estimated 100,000 people, with whole communities of children growing up there. There would be at least 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities. The living conditions were abysmal—most families lived in a 10-foot by 10-foot house with no electricity, phones or running water, and they were confined to the camp's boundaries. Although these people were from Bhutan, they spoke Nepalese.

Without electronic communication, reaching prospective athletes and coaches in Jhapa was a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. However, by the end of 2005, Special Olympics Nepal had recruited 500 athletes. Families, it was discovered, were the key to reaching new athletes. Forty coaches were recruited and, along with additional volunteers, attended training programs. In 2005, athletes competed for the first time in their lives in athletics and football (soccer). In 2006, Special Olympics Nepal introduced bocce and cricket.

For a Special Olympics Program trying diligently to reach out to people with intellectual disabilities amid an atmosphere of strife and insecurity, Nepal succeeded in overcoming the odds to provide a ray of hope to those Bhutanese athletes who are confined to their refugee camp indefinitely.

Special Olympics Goes to the Highest Reaches of the World. Bringing hope to a refugee camp, because of the poor conditions in Jhapa, the only way to communicate was to meet people face-to-face in their communities, and explain the Nepal went to the edge of the Himalayas to bring Special Olympics to a Bhutanese refugee camp. [ Lions meet Special Olympics athletes in Macedonia: Clement F. Kusiak, Immediate Past President of Lions Clubs International and current Chairperson of the Lions Clubs International Foundation (standing, middle, red tie) met with Special Olympics Macedonia athletes during a regular training session on 1 April 2006 in Skopje. Kusiak and his team met with athletes, coaches, volunteers, family members and local Lions Club members. "This is an excellent example of a truly volunteer organization which Lions Clubs should support," Kusiak said. The Lions Club in Macedonia has been very supportive of the Special Olympics National Program. Photo courtesy of Special Olympics Macedonia.