Written by: Swastika Shrestha
In April 2018, Sangita Jimba was preparing to give her speech at the Teach For Nepal annual event. She had just received a scholarship to pursue an International Baccalaureate degree at United World College - Robert Bosch College in Freiburg, Germany.
It was the first time I was meeting her and as we rehearsed the draft of her speech, I listened intently with curiousity on how Teach For Nepal Fellows might have left an impact on her life.
Born and raised in Simle, a village about a five-hour drive from Kathmandu, she is the youngest in the family of five brothers and four sisters. Her father passed away when she was ten years old. She lived with her mother and younger brother, while all her siblings were in Kathmandu for higher education. Her mother valued education because her dreams for education had remained unfulfilled. Sangita was resolute about her own education, and thus, every day, despite the responsibilities of finishing all the household work, she never missed school. She was amongst the top students in her class.
When I heard this, I was taken aback. I had expected that the story would be along the lines of how she had been struggling as a student and had now begun to excel, or how she was not interested in learning before the Fellows came and motivated her, or how the Fellows had to pull her out of a family context where she had to convince her family to let her prioritize her education. Instead, she was already top of her class, was clearly committed towards learning, and had a family who supported her education. She was already a star.
With the annual event right around the corner, I began to panic that there was no meaningful impact in her story to tell.
Sangita’s speech was filled with gratitude and praises for how well the Fellows taught, how personally they took their student’s success, and how hard they worked to create different outdoor and extra-curricular activities to help them develop their life and leadership skills.
But I was looking for more than praises for the Fellows. I had no doubt about their exceptional leadership and compassion. I wanted to know what was lacking in her that Fellows could have fulfilled, or something broken in her that the Fellows could have fixed. In my mind, if they didn’t fill a gap or fix what was broken, there was no story to tell.
I pleaded with her to share more, in hopes that I would find the angle to the story that I sought for.
I asked her to reflect on the days when the first two Fellows -Bijaya Mani and Shristi, had arrived at their school.
I asked her, “What is the one incident that comes first in your mind when you think of them?”
Sangita began to narrate a story when Bijaya had walked out of their classroom because of continuous disruptive behavior of the boys.
No matter how much Bijaya sir would try, over the days and weeks, the boys were behaving out of control. So one day, Bijaya Sir walked out of the class saying that he had left everything else in his life to come and teach us, and if we did not want to learn, he might just as well leave. He left the school premises and went to his room. As soon as he walked out, we were mad at the boys. So, all us girls, we ganged up and started fighting with these boys. Later, a group of girls went to Bijaya Sir’s residence and pleaded with him to return to the classroom. We promised him that we would ensure that the boys behaved. We were able to convince him and bring him back to school.
”
“Why did you fight with the boys?” I asked, “Why were you all so mad at them?”
Sangita replied, “After so many years, we finally-finally had a good teacher in school, but the boys were about to ruin it”.
As she was saying it, I heard a trembling in her voice. I saw the tears in her eyes. I felt the heaviness that weighed on her, as if it was just yesterday that she was outraged with fear and anger, at the realization that she had been close to losing a treasure she had just found.
At that very moment, a bolt of lightning hit me.
I asked her to tell me something else that comes in her mind when she thinks of other Teach For Nepal Fellows who also taught her in later years.
One day, Nawang Sir asked us if any one of us wanted to conduct the morning assembly in English. No one stepped forward. Finally I told him that if he wrote it down for me, I would do it. Nawang Sir wrote some instructions and handed it to me. But right before taking the stage I got nervous and I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Then Nawang Sir said -Don’t worry…just go and do it and if something goes wrong, I am here to help you.” With those words, I stepped on the stage. After that day, I went on to do many public events without being afraid.
”
I finally understood the problem in what I was looking to find.
I had assumed that she, like all students, must have been lacking in motivation, lacking in interest in learning, in determination to reach their aspirations, in confidence with themselves, or lacking in a voice to fight for what they believed in.
But, I realized - there was nothing broken. There was nothing lacking. There was no deficit.
Sangita, perhaps like the majority of our students, was clamoring with potential, dreams and determination. She was just desperately waiting for a great teacher who would bring the world to the classroom and teach really well. She just needed a teacher who would gently push her from behind and say “ I’ve got your back”.
At the end of the conversation, my eyes watered as I began to feel the weight of thousands of students who, like her, might be waiting but their wait might never be answered.
I feel extremely grateful and emotional that we have been able to reach over ten thousand students in the last ten years.
But we as a community and a Nation have to reach many more children who are in this waiting.
Sangita Jimba completed her International Baccalaureate from United World College – Robert Bosch, and went on to do her Bachelor’s degree at The College Idaho. She was the first person in her family and community to go abroad for higher education.
As the scorching sun beat down upon his skin, Nawaraj Basnet returned home from another grueling day at school. It was a day to remember, when he ran into two new teachers in his school, the following day. Nawaraj realized that these new teachers were providing him with the kind of direction and inspiration he had been longing for.
In 2016, Madhav Prasad Devkota and Anu Karki, as Teach For Nepal Fellows, began teaching science and English, respectively, at Raithane Secondary School in Sindhupalchowk. Madhav shares, “Nawaraj constantly impressed me with his insatiable thirst for knowledge, always probing beyond the pages of textbooks. His questions were so thought-provoking that they often left me scrambling for answers, encouraging me to push myself.”
Nawaraj lived with his parents and elder sister in a small village south of Sindhupalchowk. His mother never went to school and his father had dropped out after 4th or 5th grade. They depended upon daily labor wages to sustain their livelihood.
Nawaraj was aware of his family’s financial struggles, but he had high aspirations for himself. He had to repeat his first grade. But he picked up his game from second grade and from 3rd grade he was always the top student in his class.
“Once, bothered by the financial stress at home and constant fights and drinking problems, I had started making friends with boys who used to drink and smoke. Fortunately, my uncle found out and pulled me out of that rut,” Navaraj recalls.
Over the next two years, Nawaraj took every opportunity to learn, experience, and develop confidence under the guidance of teachers like Madhav and Anu. He would wake up early in the morning, finish his chores, and attend every class.
“Madhav Sir demonstrated and explained the concept really well. Once, he was teaching us Pascal’s law. He brought a bag of water and put pin size holes in it to explain the law of pressure.” Nawaraj was deeply intrigued by the activity-based teaching method introduced by both Madhav and Anu.
“After finishing a unit, Madhav Sir took a test. If we did badly, he would have us take the test again.”
When Madhav Sir, having recognized Nawaraj’s outstanding prowess in science, asked him to lead his group in the inter-school learning fair‘Kshitij Sikai Mela’, despite of having never participated in an inter-school exhibition before, he eagerly took the opportunity, working really hard, and collaborated with his team to successfully present their science project.
With the continuous guidance of Fellows, teachers, and his peers as well as his parents, Nawaraj continued to thrive. He was scoring really high in most subjects but he struggled in English as he didn’t see much relevance of the language in his dream of becoming a doctor.
Anu reminded him that most of the instructions and textbooks in medical schools would be in English. She reminded him that the entrance exams would be in English as well.
“Anu Miss had a different way of teaching. She taught us the meaning of words. She would always have us write essays. She would not dictate essays to us, but teach us to write our own.”
Nawaraj graduated top of his class in SEE with 3.75 GPA.
“Without Madhav Sir and Anu Miss, my grades would’ve probably been around 3.2. I am the first one in our area to get such a high grade from a government school. No one from our school had ever achieved such high grades until the year these two teachers arrived in our school.” Navaraj says.
“I am grateful towards Babu Sir. Sher Bahadur Sir taught us Compulsory and Optional Mathematics really well and I would score 99%”, Navaraj added.
After the SEE, Madhav continued his support to Nawaraj. Along with Babu Sir who taught in the same school, Madhav worked relentlessly to get all his application materials ready for Sikshya Foundation. The foundation gave him a full scholarship to study at Xavier International College.
As he entered the bustling city of Kathmandu, the demanding environment overwhelmed him, Nawaraj shares, “While studying in college, I felt that I didn’t belong to the city as people were different.” But with unwavering guidance and counseling from Madhav Sir, Nawaraj ended up topping his college.
His next mission was to study MBBS with a scholarship.
He missed the scholarship by a mere six marks on his first attempt. Slightly disheartened, he began to wonder if he should just enroll in Bachelor’s program. Madhav told him, like always, even though he joined the Bachelors program, if he failed in the first attempt, he should try and reapply for MBBS again !!!
To bear his living expenses in Kathmandu and prepare for entrance exams, Nabaraj began teaching at a school to make ends meet. He worked tirelessly.
Finally, in second attempt, he was able to secure a scholarship to study MBBS at the IOM. The scholarship covered his tuition fees but he still had to manage living expenses which could be anywhere from four to five hundred thousand. A different option had to be explored.
Fortunately, the Foundation found another way for Navaraj. The foundation offered to support him to get a scholarship in India, if he would pass the competitive National Eligibility Entrance Entrance Test (NEET), medical school entrance exam of India. Navaraj passed the exam with the Foundation’s support and won the Sur Shumsher Scholarship, which is only awarded to one satudent from Nepal every year.
Currently, Nawaraj is pursuing MBBS at the West Bengal University of Health Science, Kolkata.
Last year when Nawaraj returned to his community during semester break, he visited his school to teach as a substitute teacher. He shared that through his mentorship, one of his juniors, Jimmy Syangbo, from the neighboring community, was able to secure a full scholarship in Kathmandu.
When asked what his motivation was, to guide his juniors, he mentioned,
I truly believe that everyone possesses the potential to excel beyond our wildest dreams, and all it took for me to follow my passion with a little guidance and hope from someone. If this chain of hope can be passed from one person to another, each one of us can be our best.
”Written by: Swastika Shrestha
What Sita faced might have been the worst of what a Fellow has to face on the first week of their Fellowship.
It was the first year that Teach For Nepal had partnered with Tulsipur Municipality. Most schools in the municipality welcomed Fellows with open arms. But in one school, few students were very skeptical of the administration’s decision and called in a strike. This was the school where Sita and her co-Fellow had hoped to start their Fellowship journey, with a lot of excitement and strong commitment.
Amidst all the conversation and attempts of the administration to counsel the students, Sita walked into the grade seven classroom prepared to take her lesson, but instead ran into a sign posted at the door – “Class on Strike”. She froze with the bitter feeling of rejection. She had been asked by the administration to give them some time, but after what had just happened, Sita decided that no amount of convincing would be able to keep her there.
Sita walked into the classroom and told the students, “If I am not needed here, I will leave.”
Right then, a girl standing behing everyone else spoke up,
“The more I saw Dila’s insatiable hunger for learning, the more I wanted to push myself to start different programs in school”, says Sita.
Sita began to create opportunities for students to be part of –Self-Defense Classes, Oratory Skills Club, Sports Club, and STEM challenges.
Soon enough, Dila started growing wings. She began to lead the Health and Fitness club. She won an award in an inter-school STEM challenge. She was even selected to be the Master of Ceremony in Teach For Nepal’s annual day. During the first wave of COVID, she led with her club to spread awareness about sanitation, health and hygiene in her community.
After 2 years, Sita completed her Fellowship, but she continued to mentor Dila. Dila continued in her leadership trajectory, excelling in her studies and sharpening her leadership skills.
It was Dila’s consideration that broke the ice, and the students seemingly calmed down. Slowly, in the coming days, the students adjusted to the presence of a new teacher. Sita stayed back, and taught for two years.
Dila, the eldest daughter of the house had multiple responsibilities at home. Her two brothers had severe health problems and needed full support. Her mother relied on her to help with the household work. She couldn’t afford to allow Dila to join various extracurricular activities that Sita ran in the school.
But Dila’s curiosity, readiness, and enthusiasm for learning and exploring new things kept her going despite the severe scolding she got from her mother.
She participated in the Health and Fitness club. She was the first one to arrive and the last one to leave the club meetings.
After SEE Dila won the Samanta Foundation Scholarship.
Samanta Foundation scholarship is awarded to students who have outstanding scholastic and leadership skills. The scholarship is granted to students towards their 11th and 12th year of studies. The scholarship also provides mentoring and coaching to further build student’s skills.
When Sita shared this news in a meeting at Teach For Nepal, it was hard to tell if it was her or her student who had won this award.
So you’re just going to leave after our dreams and hopes have been raised?
”Written by: Alish Gurung
About two years ago, Padam stood in front of his dry piece of land and took a long, nervous breath. Nothing seemed to be grow in the soil. The saplings were drying out.
Padam Raj Awasthi joined the Fellowship after completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies from Pokhara University. He was a gold medalist and any Development Organization would’ve gladly hired him. Yet he felt the need to deepen his learning and experience. And so he left for the hills of Sindhupalchowk where, in the winter, cold penetrates right into the chest, every step leaves you gasping for breath, where rocks are taller than homes, and the river is where you wash and bathe.
In less than one year into the Fellowship, it was clear to Padam that an education degree is not going to be enough for his students.
“They will complete their school. But for higher education, they won’t be able to afford college. If my students are going to make it that far, they are going to have to learn entrepreneurial skills and work their way to college.”
And thus began the exceptional journey of Padam and his co-Fellow Ashish as they started mushroom farming in their community. The farm engaged students and eventually parents and other community members. This part of their story was featured in national news and was much talked about.
But there was a part of the story that hasn’t been told before - the story of Dipendra.
Dipendra always sat on the last bench of his classroom. He had come to believe that he wasn’t, what is often considered, a “talented” student.
In 2016, Padam Raj Awasthi and Ashish Dangal, started teaching English and Science, respectively, at Bhotenamlang Secondary School in Sindhupalchowk. This is where Dipendra grew up, observing his family work the farm. He was in 9th grade back then.
It wasn’t until he met these two teachers that he had wondered if students “without much talent” could even do more and succeed in life..
Dipendra was amazed by these new teachers who were friendly, rather than just being an authoritative figure.
“They didn’t just regard me as another kid in the classroom. Instead, they viewed each student as a distinct individual with potential and talents.”
Dipendra was surprised to see the Fellows warmly greeting the students wherever they crossed paths, because he always assumed it to be the other way around. Such small gestures left a big impact on him.
In the eyes of Padam and Ashish, Dipendra was always responsible and demonstrated excellent leadership abilities. He wasn’t the greatest in science or mathematics. This was the reason he wasn’t always the star in other teacher’s eyes. His other skills were left unvalued.
“The school was very supportive of the mushroom farming project and even sanctioned us a loan to continue with the commercial project,” says Padam.
As mushroom farming was picking up pace, his students were invited to present their success in Teach For Nepal’s annual day. All the students were excited.
But not all students could attend the annual day so a nomination team was set up to decide who all gets to go.
Dipendra didn’t make the cut.
While other students who didn’t make it were left disheartened and grumpy, Dipendra assured Padam and Ashish that he would gladly stay back and take full responsibility of the farm while the rest of the team was gone.
Padam looked at Dipendra - a young student who was demonstrating such a strong sense of responsibility, maturity, and a resolve to hold the fort while everyone was gone. No doubt, it was a great relief to know that the farm would be taken care of. Such strength of character this young man demonstrated had left Padam inspired.
“While we were in Kathmandu, I didn’t have a hint of doubt that Dipendra could be completely trusted with the responsibility,” Padam recalls.
He was right. Dipendra fully took care of the farm at that time.
After some time, Dipendra’s classmates and seniors slowly began to quit the project. However, Dipendra continued his engagement and kept moving forward. The endeavor continued for another year with the help of the Fellows.
Moved by his experience in the village, Padam decided to start farming. They took some land on lease and started their vegetable farm – “Taza Farm”.
Just a year ago, Padam stood in front of his farmland. Unlike the years before, this time the farm was filled with tomato, broccoli, cabbage, capsicum, and corn.
“There was a time no one believed that anything was going to come out of this soil. The trick was to cut through that phase of initial failures and doubt, and continue to persist,” says Padam.
Padam has about nine interns who help him on the farm.
One of them is Dipendra.
Dipendra surprised everyone by scoring a B in SEE exams. The grades and his leadership skills in project-based activities opened up an opportunity to get a CTEVT scholarship.
“During the final three months of his hostel stay, before SEE, Padam Sir and Ashish Sir, encouraged us to engage in daily goal-setting and reflection techniques, which rekindled my desire to succeed,”
Despite facing constant discouragement from his peers, he truly trusted the tedious process and started working with Padam in mushroom farming even after finishing SEE. He pursued a CTEVT degree in ICHD, Plant Science, which added more value to his work. After completing the course, he is currently the farm manager at Taza Agro Farm, Panauti, where he works along with Teach for Nepal alumni, Padam Raj Awasthi.
However, Dipendra’s vision doesn’t stop here. He has a strong desire to complete his Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture. He says he wants to eventually join the ‘Teach for Nepal’ Fellowship to make a positive impact on the lives of students like himself.
The success he has achieved has not only been a source of pride for himself but has also brought immense joy to his parents, as he is able to assist in supporting his family financially. Padam Says
The point of education is not to drive students to look for jobs in the cities. They should be able to stay in their village and generate wealth and find their happiness.
Three other students taught by Teach For Nepal Fellows intern at Padam’s farm.
“One day, my students will become CEOs of these farms,” Padam dreams.
Whenever my inner resolve shakes, when I have doubt and fear, I think of Dipendra, how he once stood like a pillar in the storm and stepped up to take such a big responsibility. That memory strengthens my own sense of responsibility to see through things I have started
As soon as the final school bell rings, Kabita rushes towards the school ground, gears up and holds a bat and starts batting practice with her classmates. Farhan - her coach, gives her instructions on how to take the shots. Farhan Akhter and Kabita Kumari Sah are classmates in seventh grade in a school in Nichuta, a community 21 kilometers west of Birgunj.
Kabita is the captain of her newly formed cricket team of 11 girls. One of the 11 girls is Samsa.
Samsa is a Muslim teenage girl who reads the Quran, and diligently practices Arabic. She helps her parents at home. Unlike many girls from her community who drop out of school or never go to school because they have to prioritize Arabic, Samsa convinced her parents that she could manage to do both.
“For Farhan and the boys in school, this isn’t much of a big deal as the community thrives on cricket”said Sadhya, who was an English teaching Fellow back then. “But for the girls, the journey took several months of persistent push,” she added.
Sandhya asked them: you all can play, right?
Yes!!! They proudly responded.
Sandhya asked them again: You can play very well, right?
They immediately answered: Yes we have won several matches.
“I will consider you all as the best players only when you can teach these girls to play like you all do”, Sandhya challenged them.
The boys, to Sandhya’s surprise, took up the challenge.
The next day, Sandhya found the boys with the girls in the field, training them on different tricks and moves in cricket.
A week later, a friendly cricket match was organized. The boys seemed to have put a lot more energy into making the match successful. The boys had coached both the Boys’ and Girls’ teams.
“At some point during the match, I could hear the voices of girls cheering loudly. Those voices for some reason lifted my spirit. It sounded like freedom,” Sandhya shares in her reflection.
”
A particular day during a boys’ cricket game at school, girls were sitting beside us just watching. There were extra bats nearby. I asked some of the girls from grade nine to go ahead and try to take a shot. They all just laughed at first but then a few of them picked up the bat. After a few minutes, we could hear roars of laughter coming from the other side of the playground. Boys were mocking the girls because of the way they were holding the bat. The girls were immediately taken aback and started feeling low. I went towards them and said, - if you leave this bat today, they are going to mock you every single day. If you really trust yourself just play. Go for it.
That evening, Sandhya and Bishal made the decision to organize cricket practices and create a female cricket team. They believed that this sport would offer a chance to empower the girls.
Samsa was not among the participants chosen after the tryouts and selection process. Samsa’s father had forbidden her from attending school early in the morning, in order to participate in the selection procedure. Samsa, like her father, had begun to believe that she was simply not cut out for cricket and dreaded getting hit by the ball.
Girls in most of our community think that cricket is a game for physically fit people - which for them are boys, not girls. This was a mindset Sandhya and Bishal, a Science teaching Fellow, set out to challenge.
Sandhya and Bishal started physical fitness training. The fun part of it was that the girls realized how fit they already were. After all, the chores that they had been doing at home were no less than rigorous workouts.
Samsa was finally able to convince her father to let her play cricket. She joined the after school practice sessions, and she could actually hit the ball with the bat before anyone else in the team could.
But every time the girls were out in the fields, the boys mocked the girls.
One day, Sandhya walked up to them and asked the boys why they were laughing.
They replied: girls cannot play cricket.
Girls, throughout several generations, have had to cross many barriers to simply attend schools. People in the community, to this day, believe that being allowed to attend school in itself is a huge privilege for girls. But Sandhya knows that her girls have much more to strive for and thrive for, than merely exist in the school.
Kabita Kumari Sah, the captain of the Girls’ cricket team shares, “Every time I would watch boys play cricket, I wanted to play as well. But we never had a chance to be in the games before and I never thought that I could play cricket in front of the boys! We did not believe in ourselves, but now we do.”
After the competition, Sandhya went straight to the boys and asked them how they felt about the match. Ilhan, one of the boys who helped coach the girls, responded: “I succeeded in helping them overcome their fears”.
Farhan said, “They wanted to learn. They have never talked to me and asked for any other favor but this time it was different, they came and asked for help and I couldn’t deny.”
“The game changed all of us in so many different ways,” says Sandhya with pride and contentment.
Samsa received a design thinking award from Books Beyond Border, Singapore, for creating a prototype to solve a local problem in her neighborhood. Samsa’s studies, following her SEE, were financed by a relative of Sandhya. Samsa currently resides at Dostel LLC, a Teach For Nepal alumni organization. She is pursuing a +2 in business studies at the Advanced Academy College in Lalitpur. She is the first member of her community to pursue higher education.
In 2015, Pratik Ghimire, Sonon Chaudhary and Anuva Upreti started their Fellowship in a school in Sohani Mujheliya, Dhanusha. A Math Fellow, Pratik somehow got pulled into becoming the Head of Sports and Extracurricular Activities in school. He didn’t have much sense of various games and their rules. He started to coach the boys team based on the information he picked up from the internet.
Somehow, he had never even questioned why girls were not in his team.
But when the girls demanded that they also want to do sports, he went to the school to make a request for a Girl’s team.
“Who will take the responsibility if our girls break a limb?,” he was asked.
Pratik considered the opinion and thought that it was something he couldn’t personally guarantee, so he reluctantly took the option to exclude the girls, and carry on with the boy’s team.
But then one day, as he walked into his class, all the girls including Priyanka, stood up and walked out of his class.
They had one simple question:
Pratik was shaken to his core by this question. As a boy growing up in the same community, he had normalized the fact that sports had always been for boys and girls had always been excluded. But now as a teacher, turning a blind eye to this gender norm was not an option, especially after the girls had challenged his value and moral position as a teacher.
Pratik decided that he would start a Sports Club for girls as well. But this decision was met with a strong push back from the community.
By the time girls turn eighteen, most of the girls in Priyanka’s community are married off. Their own parents and communities in large didn’t have high aspirations for them. Getting them married off is the main priority. Though some families let their daughters- in-laws attend school, they would drop out as soon as they were pregnant.
them married off.
“Would you take the responsibility?”, they demanded.
Pratik, decided to take his chances!!!
And so, one fateful day, the girls came down to the fields. In 2016, the school decided that both boys and girls would participate in the President Running Shield. Priyanka was one of the many girls whose parents refused to allow them to participate. They were worried that no one would marry a girl who goes out and plays sports.
“Who will marry you if you break your bones or damage your face?”, her parents questioned her. Priyanka’s parents were not willing to risk their daughter’s future over some games that only the boys were supposed to play.
Pratik, along with his co-Fellows - Sonon and Anuva wholeheartedly believed that Priyanka would succeed if given this opportunity. They took it upon themselves to convince her parents.
Priyanka remembers that visit fondly, “My father and mother were hesitant. Girls who play sports are seen in a negative light in our community. It becomes a matter of character. But with persistent push from Pratik Sir, Anuva Miss and Sonan Miss, my parents finally agreed.”
Pratik trained the students before and after school every day, for two months. Priyanka completed all her household chores and came for practice everyday.
Priyanka won medals in kabaddi, volleyball, 200-meter race, 400-meter relay and javelin throw.
Priyanka proudly announces, “That year, I won five gold medals. I was the only one from our school. No boys from our school won any medals.”
In 2020, Priyanka got married. She was in grade 12. She continued her education; but, she had hid all her certificates and medals. She did not want her husband to find out about her past. She knew that the perception against girls in sports is still negative in her community. She felt the need to leave her past behind and focus on becoming a good wife and a good daughter-in-law as expected by her community But one day her husband asked her if she knew a girl who had won many medals in sports competitions.
“Do you know anyone like her?”, he teasingly asked.
She realized he was talking about her. She paused for a while to understand if the tone in her husband’s voice was that of resentment or admiration. When it was clear to her that he was actually excited to have discovered this truth about her, brimming with happiness and relief, Priyanka took out her medals and certificates from the trunk and showed them to him.
Her dream no longer needed to grow cobwebs.
Priyanka Thakur has been leading the Madhesh Pradesh athletics team in the Rastrapati Running Shield as the coach since 2020. She is the only female in the 24-member entourage of the Madhesh Pradesh sports team. In a community where female participation in sports was unheard of, Priyanka has been able to carve a space for herself. Priyanka who is a mother of two and doing her BBS juggles her time between her family, her education and sports.
Are you a teacher just for the boys, or for girls as well?
Parents were concerned that if the girls got hurt or “damaged” in any way, it would be hard to getWritten by: Richa Neupane
In a small village in Sindhupalchowk, Sushmita’s family struggled to make ends meet.
My mother didn’t have enough money to buy new clothes and so she would sew the old clothes over and over and use it. There were times, we didn’t have money for lunch. Sometimes, Father made money through gambling or by selling chicken but we would run out of it before the end of the month. Father’s drinking made things worse for us. My sister received note books and stationery supplies from an organization. But my younger sister and I would not even have notebooks for our school work. Because of the financial stress, my parents fought a lot. When our Hajuraama was alive, she would not let things get out of hand. But after she passed away, the situation at home got worse.
In the midst of all these hardships, the 2015 earthquake left Sushmita’s family destitute. They lost their house. They lost their livestocks so there were no chickens to sell. They had no land, so there was no possibility of growing food. The arguments around the house increased and Sushmita’s mother would frequently break down.
Sushmita’s grandmother had always reminded her the importance of studying. She would tell them that if they got married early in life without getting education, they would face several problems later on in life. Her father, even though in his drunken state, would always tell them to study well. Her mother would never let her miss any day in school or extra classes.
However, in the post-earthquake realities, the possibilities for Sushmita’s further education looked grim. The family had to move to a rented place, while rebuilding their house. Her mother had to run the house on a meager daily wage of Rs.500 a day. She carried bricks and sand at construction sites, while her father had to get a brain surgery for the same condition that had killed her grandmother.
In the midst of all this, Shina Miss became a pillar that Sushmita could lean on. Shina had been a Mathematics teacher in her school and really helped Sushmita to do well in the subject.
Shina, Amit and Eva along with Astha helped Sushmita make significant progress in academics. Sushmita graduated with a 3.06 GPA in SEE.
After completing her SEE, an opportunity came through Shina to pursue accounting academically. Accounting was her favorite subject due to its practical application and her love for calculations. She took the opportunity. Shina had arranged a scholarship at a private college in Kathmandu where she would finish her grade 11 and 12. Shina arranged her accommodation and living costs.
But when she completed grade 12, she was in desperate need of a job. Both her father and mother had medical needs and bills that needed to be paid. Again, with the help of Shina Miss, she found a teaching job at the Saathi Teachers program in Sindhupalchok. Not only did it give her some stability, but she got to practice the teaching techniques that she had learned from the Teach for Nepal fellows when they taught her in school.
“In the village, I made science more engaging for students. I took them to visit the water well, for example. In mathematics too, I added playful techniques.”
Sushmita gave back as a teacher. She knew how important it was for her that Shina supported her emotional recovery. So, she tried to be there for her students as a friend, just like Shina had been there for her. She listened to her students’ problems, which helped her strengthen her bond with them, making it much easier to teach them.
Currently, Sushmita teaches Science at Bloom Nepal School in Lubhu, Lalitpur. She considered, “The students in the city do not value-based education as much as the students back in the village where I taught.” Every morning, she goes to college all the way to Chabahil as she is in the third year of her undergraduate degree in Business Studies.
“Without the support of my teachers, I would’ve probably gone as far as becoming a loan collector in my village but I wouldn’t have been able to break this continuous cycle of poverty.”
”
Shina Miss was playful, friendly and childlike. In the beginning, we didn’t like her classes much. But slowly she started giving individualized attention to both low and high achieving students. After her classes, my mathematics scores went up from 60 to80. I used to exchange letters with her, where I used to share what I did or didn’t not like in her class on any given day, along with the problems I was facing. She took extra classes to support us. With her help, I could finally do factorization and finally understood complementary and supplementary angles for the first time.
In Shina, Sushmita also found a guardian who filled the gap left by her grandmother. Through letters to Shina Miss, the students would write about things that were troubling them at home and school. This became a way to cope with grief and trauma that was happening in their lives.
“All three daughters in my family are studying now. Father has also healed and started working. My older sister is also working, but I earn the most in my family now.”, Sushmita says proudly.
Early in the morning, I got a call on my messenger. It was Ganesh B.K. The voice was breaking because of a bad internet connection. “Miss, I passed with distinction”. I heard that clearly. Ganesh’s voice was filled with happiness and imbued with gratitude.
My heart swelled up with joy and pride. I felt that wasn’t just him, I too had successfully passed through a chapter of my life.
He had just completed a 18 months long Farming - Science Agricultural J.T.A. from C.T.E.V.T. and passed it with distinction. When I first arrived in his school as an English teaching Fellow, he was in grade 9. Slender physique and a goatee in a thin facial structure, he looked a lot more mature in age than his classmates. He was very kind and considerate. Every morning at 6:00 am I would start for students. It would be chilly that early in the mornings. He would bring in a small kettle with a note that said “hot water”. If I left my hot water bottle anywhere, he’d bring it to me and remind me to drink water. It was a small gesture that showed his kind nature and strength of character.
I would call him Gannu for short. Many in his class just called him“uncle”.
I soon found out that he was what many considered ås a “slow” learner. He had repeated grade levels. When he was in grade 7, he dropped out of school and didn’t come back for 2 years. That was the reason that he was often ridiculed.
Even teachers would sometimes tease him by saying, “Ganesh will end up being in the same class with all the students - seniors and juniors”. They implied that he would continue to repeat grade levels with every new incoming class but he would never graduate.
One day, while we were sitting and eating together, he brought up the fact he had dropped out of school when he was in grade 7.
“I did not come to school for 2 years,” he said.
“Then why did you want to come back to school again?” I asked.
Along with my co-Fellow we started working with him. We started right from the basics. We broke down lessons into tiny chunks and got him to practice over and over. In the class, while all the class would be working on a particular learning objective for the day, we would have him working at his level of learning. We had him focus on specific learning objectives that were centered around the examination questions. We used different tools like songs and other audio visual tools to help him understand.
But, even after one year of hard work, in grade 10, he failed in his first terminal exams. He failed in 3-4 subjects. His mother became desperately hopeless and came to the school to talk about getting him out of school.
“This is not something that he can do. The best thing for him is to do farming and earn his livelihood.”
But, Ganesh wanted to keep trying and so I asked her to give us nine more months.
“Give us nine months. I will take full responsibility for him and if in nine months the results don’t change, then we will just go with what you’re saying.” I told her and left.
For the next 9 months, my co-Fellow Pranay and I continued to work with Ganesh. We had to work hard and continue to separately design lessons and learning materials for him. He needed more instruction and practice time. We had to build the basic foundation and move up.
He graduated with a C grade in the SEE.
After SEE he joined the Agriculture JTA program. There were people who still tried to pull down his spirit by saying that he might have to spend the rest of his life giving the Agriculture exam repeatedly every year. They told him that he wasn’t going to make it further than an office assistant.
Currently, Ganesh is in Rainaskot. He is an assistant trainer at Rainas Multi-technical school. He helps in the training of other students like him who have interest in Agricultural science. He teaches students to farm mushrooms. He teaches them to grow saplings. He checks their work. He helps them to take the saplings to the market and to sell them. He is a salaried employee after he did 18 months long Farming - Science Agricultural J.T.A. from C.T.E.V.T. and passed it with Distinction.
”
I went to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs and sell them. But along the mountains, the signage was in English. I could not understand anything. I realized that if I cannot read, I cannot even find my way. This made me really sad. I also found out that my previous classmates had started going to campus. I began to yearn to go back to school and study. I had a feeling that I needed to study for the sake of my brother’s progress as well. But then, when I came back to school it felt like the books were always angry with me. It was very difficult to study!
After a few months of knowing him, I decided that I would do whatever it takes to make sure that he can progress academically and land up in a good career that would give him a dignified life and be financially strong.
“Miss, now I will prepare to get into government service. After getting into government service, I have the dream to provide employment to a lot of people.” The determination and perseverance pierced through his voice that was breaking up due to the intermittent internet connection.
Bikram was born and raised along with his six siblings in the Suryachaur village of Rolpa. The village has a majority of people from Magar community. The dialect there is Nepali but is accentuated by words from Kham, the Magar language. Very few people finish school there, but his grandfather had a plan for Bikram that he should at least get his tenth grade School Leaving Certificate:
”
Rolpa is far from Kathmandu. People are mostly uneducated. They are not aware that one should study. Child marriage in Rolpa is normalized and people are more traditional. There is discrimination too. Roads and electricity are not yet well-established in Rolpa. My grandfather wanted me to at least pass SLC. I would go to school regularly because of his motivation. I did not have note copies. So he would make slate boards for me with his own hands. He would make me do my homework. He knew how to write basic stuff, so he always showed me the importance of getting an education. When he died when I was in class 1, after that I dropped out. But my father got me admitted again. In class 7 I met my uncle’s friend,Rajan. Rajan dai understood the situation of education in our village: there was little chance for me to reach class 10. My uncle suggested that I live with Rajan dai’s friends in Southern Lalitpur and help at the house and work there at the same time attend a school.
For the first time ever he stepped out of his village in Suryachaur to come to Kathmandu. Then to continue his grandfather’s plan for his education, he started working as a farmhand in Lalitpur at a family friend’s house.
Bikram faced many changes in Lalitpur, starting from the added workload of taking care of the cattle and a house. He had to cut wood, fetch water, fodder for the cattle, cook and clean. Added to that, he had to go to a new school with completely new people. He mumbled in the Khaminfluenced Nepali dialect that not many understood. So he stayed quiet most of the time. Here though the teachers were better involved in teaching compared to his little school in Rolpa. But he did not know how to interact well. He missed his family back home. He wanted to escape. However he persevered.
“In Lalitpur, I tried to study as much as I could. I had to work before and after school. I would be so tired. Sometimes books would be my pillow and I would fall asleep on my homework. But I still studied. ”
By the time he joined another new school in Lalitpur, TFN Fellows Samden Sherpa and Ramesh Ghimire had already taught there for a year. Meeting them changed him. He recalled the first time he was in a Fellow’s class:
“The morning coaching class was taken by Samden. I introduced myself. Samden Sir gave a good introduction about TFN.”
Bikram slowly got to know these young teachers. The Fellows divided the students into four houses. Bikram became a House Captain. They would also hold extra classes on Saturdays. They played with the students and became fresh. According to Bikram, fellow Samden would respond to questions properly. Samden had created a comfortable environment for students to ask questions when they were not clear.
“I had noticed a different teaching style with Samden Sir, on the first day itself. He taught us grammar through games. Regular teachers would give us work to do and leave. But Fellows were engaged throughout the
class. Where other teachers were satisfied with high achieving student’s progress, Fellows focused on all types of students, whenever they were falling back. They would be involved in extracurriculars with us while other teachers couldn’t wait for the last bell and left early. All this showed that TFN fellows were different. If only all teachers were like this…...villagers also said we will never get such teachers.”
Bikram was further inspired by Samden and Ramesh for what they had done for his friend. During regular home visits, Samden and Ramest would go and visit students and their parents and advise the parents to focus on their children’s education and allow them time to study and practice. It was during one of these visits when they found out that Bikram’s friend, Manoj Ghimire, was planning to drop out and start working as a conductor. Samden, talked him and his parents out of it. Now, Manoj has completed his Bachelor’s degree and has founded his own start-up company.
For someone who had left his family far away and struggled in a new context to make new friends and family, the Fellows became Bikram’s circle of support.
“TFN fellows are not teachers. They are like brothers. We were close with them. We would play and stay together. When we are feeling worried, they are there. Once during the month-long earthquake camp led by Fellows at Kathmandu Don Bosco school, Samden Sir came to me and asked me what was wrong. Not even family can do that. But they behave and console us like brothers. I had been having gastric trouble. Suraj Sir was also there. It’s easy to share my problems frankly with them without any restriction. If I need help, or face a problem, they tell me to share comfortably. When I meet them I feel like I am meeting my own brothers.”
A particular incident became a turning point in Bikram’s life. When he was in grade 10, during the annual day at his school, he had taken part in many games organized by fellows and other staff in the school. He had won many prizes such as in debate, etc. Samden Sir and Ramesh Sir had put together 1,000 rupees as an award for a hardworking and diligent student. He got that award. Bikram could not contain his tears of joy.
When asked why this was such an emotional and memorable event for him, he responded, “ That day I felt seen…I felt that I existed. I had never achieved anything before in life and when I looked at that 1,000 rupee note, I felt I exist and people can see me, hear me.”
Bikram graduated the SEE with 3.15 GPA. His teachers had not only invested in his academics but found several opportunities for him to participate in inter-school competitions and programs. They helped him develop life and leadership skills through different initiatives. Five months before his SEE, Sabin, another Teach For Nepal Fellow, connected Bikram with a donor who committed to support his studies. Sabin and Samden suggested and offered guidance to Bikram while he applied for the Samanta Foundation Fellowship. He was able to secure a place and a scholarship out of 65 applicants. As a motivated youth, Bikram took on a leadership role in organizing events in school, which helped him in the selection process. Through the fellowship, he was able to complete his +2 and Bachelor’s degrees and is now working as a Program Associate for the same organization.
Girls do not dance in public. Period.
When Sami Manandhar and Parbati Shrestha were placed in a school in Dhanusha, little did they know the extent to which families and communities pushed back the idea of girls performing dances on stage.
They believed that dance was a way they could lift the level of confidence amongst girls and also push the social norms that limit girls into living in the silos. They offered to teach the students Jhijhiya dance.
Saraswati Puja was coming up and the school had announced an annual celebration event at the school. There was a possibility that the first President of Nepal, who was also a female, would come to their school for the annual event. To Sami and Parbati, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to build the pride and confidence of female students.
In every social event, Sami and Parbati had noticed that the girls would shy away and hide in the corners watching men dance, but she never had enough courage or public approval to dance. This was a pattern, not just in dance, but in everyday life, where girls and women were shoved in the corners without a space to voice their opinions, participate in decision making at home or speak up on decisions being made about her life.
This simple act could stir up a lot of changes, they thought.
Practices for the dance began.
“Many girls from our school had to lie to their families to come to the practice, but our teachers did not know that. Thankfully, my parents were lenient,” recalls Asmita Mandal.
As she danced away, Asmita felt a sense of satisfaction that this dance to her was both an act of rebellion and a new form of freedom.
“We realized that we were doing something we enjoyed, and that too without any fear or social pressure.”
But when the final performance day came, many girls, including Ashmita, couldn’t get themselves to the stage. There had been some threats going around and the girls were both scared and shy.
After the event, the girls felt ashamed to face Sami Miss and Parbati Miss in their class. Everyone felt guilty for having wasted the time and effort of their teachers.
So, the next year, they decided to surprise their teachers and perform.
“Although only eight of us went on to the stage. It was our shining moment.” recalls Asmita.
While Ashmita and her friends performed, Sami and Parbati made sure that the expectations and fears of their parents were managed. The parents were worried that their daughters’ dance videos would be taken and put up on social media. Sami and Parbati made sure that no one took videos.
As Sami later learned, most parents were afraid because culturally, only transgender men used to dance in public. Those dances were called the ‘Natuwa’ dance, which used to be deemed vulgar. With that cultural background, girls had never been allowed to practice on the stage for the performance.
But all that changed when the girls finally performed. The dance was graceful and was nothing like the “Natuwa” dance parents had frowned about
The team eventually also performed during the Teach for Nepal annual event in Kathmandu.
When Shirijung Hang Rai, a Teach For Nepal alumni, who was at the time leading Samaanta Foundation that provides competitive scholarships and mentorship for students to pursue higher education, went to recruit Ashmita Mandal for the scholarship.
It was not easy in the beginning. In the previous year, another girl from the same community had won the scholarship, but instead of sending her for higher education, the family had turned down the offer and married her off instead. It was likely that Ashmita would face a similar fate.
But Ashmita convinced her parents and took the Samaanta Foundation scholarship and completed her grades 11 and 12 in Kathmandu. Moving on, she won the scholarship to pursue an international degree (IB) at United World College Red Cross, Nordic. After UWC, she went to the U.S. for her undergraduate studies.
While studying Economics and Political Science degrees at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, USA, she reflects,
I used to protest against everything. But now I am starting to understand that my parents also had to succumb to societal norms.
”
“When I go back home, I will share my experience with women and girls. I will try to persuade mothers not to get their daughters married so early.”
“When I succeed, I don’t only succeed alone. My success opens up the doors for many other girls like me for whom I have become an example. Thus this success is not just mine,” said Asmita in a Welcome Speech, at the opening of Teach for Nepal Learning Institute, addressing the new cohort of Fellows who like Sami and Parvati would go creating ripple effects of change.
Special acknowledgement to Richa Neupane, Teach For Nepal 2016 Alumna, who initiated the compilation of these stories five years ago for the special edition publication.
As Teach For Nepal marks 10 years, we share 10 stories about the relentless work the Fellows put in to set students on a transformational life path. These stories challenge our many myths about our students in public schools and portray the difficult context they walk through to find their individual success. These stories share how a teacher, with nothing but sheer determination and infallible compassion, can turn the trajectory of a student’s life.
