Home: Inaruwa, Sunsari, Koshi

Education: B.B.S., Nepal Commerce Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

I used to live with my parents in a village in the Eastern part of Nepal in an underdeveloped Madhesi community. People there were very ‘backward’. They were unaware about the importance of education. So no children in that society ever went to school. But my parents were different. They understood the importance of education and decided to send me to a private school, which was far from my village. But the society was against this decision so my parents shifted to town where they took a room on rent. We had a single room where my mom managed a kitchen, my brother and I managed a space to study and it was our bedroom, too. Struggles for my parents begun.

As my father was the only earner in my family, life was becoming very difficult. I didn’t have access to many facilities that other children got but I never complained because I understood the situation. I always worked hard when it came to my education. I used to buy second hand books from my seniors and used to study. I never celebrated my birthday during my childhood. I never demanded new clothes for festivals.

During my schooling, I faced lots of problems. The teachers used to discriminate between fair-skinned and dark-skinned students, tidy and untidy students, and talented and weak students. Due to that, poor students couldn’t improve. They were affected psychologically. Even I felt discriminated but my parents’ motivation helped me perform well. The most challenging stage of my life was to decide whether to study further or not after SLC because in my town there was no college. My uncle had brought me to Kathmandu for a visit and that’s when I decided I wanted to pursue my higher studies here. I asked for some money with my parents and started my studies. I even started taking home tuitions so that I could sustain my studies on my own. I realized that I loved teaching children.

During college life, I came across many people and organizations that were working for change and development of Nepal. Even I wanted to do something. After reflecting on my personal experiences, I felt that the root problem was in the education system. So I decided to be involved in something that would bring an improvement in the education sector. I started teaching in a private school. But, I found that teaching there was very traditional. I tried to change that. I wanted to introduce practical approach of education. I encouraged lots of interactions in classes rather than just lecturing. Very soon I heard about Teach for Nepal and I felt I could bring similar impacts in public schools in rural areas where more teachers like me would be needed. That’s the reason why I joined the fellowship.