Success Stories
Girls’ Education Program
Against All Odds!
N
irupa Katuwal cannot stand injustice happening around her. She fights with anyone who lets the other person suffer, especially in women’s issue. She is against any social norms and traditions that treat women unfairly. “I want to eradicate cultural practices like dowry and Kamalari that undermines women’s worth, and treats them like second class citizens” Nirupa says. She believes the only way to achieve that is education. “Educated women can steer our society, fight and end social unjust. Empowered women are the cornerstone of any nation” she says. Her belief in education stems from her own experience. Mira, Nirupa’s mother, came to Kathmandu when Nirupa was only nine months old after being abandoned by her husband. She had no job, no house and no one to take care of her baby. After much struggle, she found a job in a garment factory. Despite paltry pay, she worked leaving her daughter locked in the rented room; the room where Nirupa grew up. She shudders every time she remembers those days.
Nirupa hates the room. It drips during rainy season, freezes during winter and gets as hot as oven during summer. She wishes to own a small house where she and her mother could live a dignified life. She still remembers how her mother felt really uncomfortable when Room to Read staff first visited them. She says, “My mother wished she could offer a comfortable sit because they came here to get me admitted in school, in Girls’ Education Program”. She further adds, “Now that I am educated, I can turn my wish into a reality”. Nirupa is now a GEP alumna of Room to Read. She is a first year student of Management. Although the subject least interests her, she opted for it than to skip a year. However, she is searching for scholarships to study the subject of her choice (Social Work and Law) and hopes to get in by next year. She says, “I will not let my dreams go down the drain. I will not stop working harder”. Her mother has been a role model for her. She is the one who inspired and pushed her to study because she knows Nirupa will have a different life being educated. She says, “When I say I will leave you if you don’t study, she grabs her book immediately and buries her nose in it.”
“I feel bad for not being able to finance the subject of her choice, but I always encourage her to trust in her decisions. After all, you only need to dare and nothing is impossible”. Mira embroiders in the clothes from garment factory, saving as much as she can to put into her daughter’s education. Earlier, she used to take many orders but now due to her poor health, she has reduced the workload. And to help her mother, Nirupa left her teaching job. She deals with the employers, bargains on price and also carries all the loads to the room. She does all the required calculations. “People would have fooled for if Nirupa did not know how to calculate,” says her proud mother. Even in the face of such challenges, the duo share contented smiles. Nirupa’s dream of making her mother proud and her mother’s dream to see her daughter educated complement each other nicely. Mira constantly motivates her daughter, and Nirupa continues to work harder to give her mother more reasons to do so.
“I will not let my dreams go down the drain.”
The Multitasker
R
ojina concentrates on her beat as she hammers her fingers on the Syahi (the black spot in the center of the instrument) of the Tabla. The guitarist followed her lead, and the singers picked up the chorus on the steady beats of the Tabla. The room takes over the aura of concert dissolving the audience in its musical beats. This happens every Friday while Rojina and her band practice their music. She has been taking the Tabla class for two years. As her extracurricular activities in School, she chose this instrument which she got carried away with. She says, “It makes me feel relaxed”. Whenever she is not churning the beats in the Tabla, she’s away hosting a radio program.
“Namaste! I am Rojina Giri and here I am with the new episode of Samarpan”, she breaths life with the mic as she starts the program. She hosts a child program Samarpan (dedication) which constitutes of various sections from poems to teacher’s interview. It is aired every Wednesday evening. She says, “I am confident my voice will bring in many other opportunities”. But for a time being she is planning to take a break to concentrate on her studies. Rojina, 15, is intensely preparing for her School Leaving Certificate examination (a certified examination which every 10 grader goes through) this year from Sudesha High School. At school, she is also a President of Interact club. Despite her multiple roles, she schedules her tasks efficiently keeping study as her first priority. She says, “I know what value education holds”. She further adds, “Education empowers people and is a gateway to achieve my dreams.”
Aspiring to be a doctor, Rojina has always accepted what life has offered her. She is not scared of challenges, the one trait she inherited from her mother. She vividly remembers how her mother carrying her two daughters escaped from her alcoholic husband one midnight. Rojina was only four years old then. As a street vendor, her mother earned very little which was not enough to pay for school. But she was determined to not let her daughters follow the path she did. Rojina’s mother knew had she been educated she would not have suffered. In those hard times in 2005, she found Room to Read’s assistance in getting her daughters admission in school. Rojina says, “I would have been working in someone’s house if I was not in School”. Looking at her mother, she understands why education is important. She believes education opens the door of opportunities and says, “It is a basic need”. Although Rojina hardly has spare time, she manages to help her mother after school. Her zeal for learning more everyday makes her energetic and happy. “I will be an influential person someday”, she says.
“Education is
empowerment.”
The Bold
K
abita fought with her parents when they denied supporting for her further education. She had not expected much but little support from her parents which every child expects. Instead, they insisted her to leave her studies and join them in sharing the financial burden at home. She accepted the sharing but opposed on leaving her studies. “I stood still and didn’t give up. I wanted to study”, she says. After much search, she found a college that offered admission in minimal pay. Currently, she is studying Bachelors in Arts in Sociology. She says, “I was scared to take any decisions previously. But after attending life skills sessions when I was a scholar in Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program, I started becoming confident.”
Kabita is now a GEP alumna of Room to Read. With the lessons gained from Life Skills Session, she and her group have performed drama in many other schools. She says, “I want to share what I learnt. If it has made me change drastically, in positive way, I want to bring change in others life as well.” She has performed drama mostly on sexual harassments. With her drama, she informed other students on how to react and cope when people get harassed. Many students came and shared their problems regarding such harassment problems after her performance. She advised them with solutions on facing such consequences. “I feel good that I could help them with my knowledge. It’s a challenge we face everyday”, she says. As marketing personnel, she herself gets harassed by people. But she knows how to deal with them. She says, “I would have left my job had I not attended Life skills sessions. Facing such challenges and coping with it makes me feel strong every day.” Kabita is happy with her life. Her parents have also stopped asking her to leave studies. She gets busy all day spending half of her day at work and half at school. She wants to become a social worker after her graduation.
FEEDBACK sangam.silpakar@roomtoread.org