1101 Connection and Use of Fund

by Eva Dongol

Explain in no less than 1101 words on your connection with the 1101 Scholarship and how you'd propose to use the Scholarship amount of $1101 for both your education and for vegan activism if you were to receive it. If you were to receive the fund, you will be required to spend a minimum of one-third of your scholarship award towards vegan activism to raise awareness in your country and in your community about animal rights, veganism, plant-based living and its benefits, conservation and animal protection. After I heard about the 1101 scholarship the first thing on my mind was if I received the scholarship I could help animals who are suffering in the streets. Since a very young age I've been very passionate about helping animals and following my father's footsteps I have been engaged in helping street animals with him. Over the years I have seen various cases and l have experienced how hard it is to help each case we come across. Various organizations have been working for the welfare of animals but they can't reach all the places and those animals which they couldn't reach have to die in the streets. Here awareness among community people plays a very important role, as a community member it is also our duty to look after our community animals, the places where the organizations couldn't reach its the duty of the community members or the ward to help the animals. Due to lack of awareness various problems arise looking at recent increasing cases, community dogs must be vaccinated once a year. Rabies is seen in many dogs who have not been vaccinated and again it causes human and animal conflict, in such chaos people tend to panic and hit / kill the dog. I have come across many such cases but one of my personal experience where a small puppy was thrown in the bunch of trash, the puppy was crying out loud we were informed by our community members, the puppy was wrapped inside a plastic bag while we were trying to free the puppy, I was bit by him we were not sure if he was infected by rabies, the other day we found him dead and we did a rabies test it was positive and without panicking I went to Teku for rabies vaccination. With lack of awareness comes a bunch of problems abandoning dogs, risk of other animals/humans getting infected. If I receive the scholarship my first very motive will be to organize Rabies vaccination campaigns and awareness programs related to rabies which would include an understanding on how to prevent rabies in animals, when to suspect rabies, what to do in case of a bite, prevention and cure, list of sources where you can information about the case and where you can go if infected. This awareness program will engage the community and empower people to save themselves and others. There are many other cases but my motive will be to focus on major two aspects that would be Rabies, ABC (Animal Birth Control) and awareness related to animal rights. I will be contributing to the Animal Birth Control program conducting spaying and neutering campaign by taking help from other organizations or personal veterinary clinics. It is important that we conduct the program as soon as possible as it is causing various problems spreading diseases, wounds from dog fight, causing collisions with vehicles, outbreaks of parasites are all directly related to the increasing population of dogs in an area, increasing of various sexually transmitting diseases which affect the dogs and might cause cancer. Animal Birth Control can minimize conflicts with both animals and humans as sterilized dogs will mean that there will not be fighting or mating during the heat seasons and reduce cases of dog bites, minus the strain of

pregnancy, female dogs will remain healthier. The dog population will be familiar, friendly, healthy and harmless as residents will no longer ill-treat dogs, the dogs won't feel threatened and will be friendly. Not just the street dogs but even pet dogs must be sterilized with time and most cases of abandonment also lead to overpopulation. Responsible dog guardians can make a difference by having their dog or cat sterilized. Much of Nepal is still in darkness when it comes to Animal Rights, abandoned cattle have taken over the roads of Kathmandu, the government has also been working to give shelter to the cattle but people are unaware about its main cause and the dairy industry. Various traffic jams, hit and run cases are caused due to these problems and baby innocent cattle are dying in the street. It is important that we have awareness about how the dairy industry is harming the lives of so many innocent cattle and how those cattle are being separated from their mother and they are abandoned on the road to die. Live animal transportation is done in a very cruel manner: chickens are tied upside down in bikes and vehicles, buffaloes are being transported through various regions in such a way that they have no place to sit or move around. Animals are forcefully transported in a mass number tied with ropes from head to tail. We have laws against it but half of the population is unaware about such laws. If we come across such incidents we can file a case against it for that we need to be well aware about the laws. Various laws have been made but people are unaware about the law I would like to organize online campaigns and various other programs to aware about animal rights law and the injustice that’s happening in our county. The more people know about it if they wish they can help in the movement and help create a place where all the lives are valued.

I want to make people aware about Veganism and how it is not just about food choices and it's more about compassion and not contributing to anything that causes any harm to others and a lot more. It's important that we be aware and help people connect with their surroundings, due to various things we are disconnected with nature and what we are surrounded with, it's important that we think about the choices we make and their impact. Animal agriculture is one of the main causes of global warming and as we are experiencing the changes in the weather people are concerned about global warming but they don't know all the things that's contributing to it, people who are concerned about nature and environment must be aware about it. And I hope with this I can contribute to my Mother Earth. If I receive the scholarship, I have to invest it in my studies too. Growing up I have really been connected to animals. I rush to goats, hens, and dogs whenever I get to see them. From a very small age my dream was to become a Veterinary doctor and since then it’s been my life purpose to be a vet doctor and save lives. For now, I'm doing +2 in Science. After finishing my +2 studies I would be applying to pursue my dream and that is to study Veterinary science. Also, with my studies I will directly be helping animals. I'm very passionate about it and when I feel like giving up that's what made me go and continue my journey. It's a very big opportunity for me, it might be a small action from my side but I know that it can make a big impact if I do my best and it's a great opportunity to showcase that I can make a difference and help others to make a difference. Thank you.

Still people are not aware about what is Veganism / Vegan, they simply think it’s just vegetarian.