5.7 Meena’s wish
Simali chhayama basi
Bhariya lamo saas phereko[i]
The above song by songwriter and singer, Jiwan Sharma, is very popular. Ram Bahadur Bhujel, who is from the Shaileshwori village in Dolakha district, hums this song nowadays. He lets out a deep sigh whenever he is carrying a load on his back. However, there is no shade of a village silk-cotton tree (which the song mentions), under which he could rest his load.
Ram Bahadur makes his living by working in a furniture shop in Dillibazar, Kathmandu. He came to the capital after the Maoists made life in his village impossible by forcing the locals to prepare food for them and forcing many to join their movement. His 16-year-old daughter Meena went along to support her ageing father. Ram Bahadur works as a porter while Meena washes dishes for a living. She hopes that her future will shine like the dishes that she washes every day.
Because she comes from a very poor financial background, Meena never had the opportunity to go to school. She wanted to learn vocational skills that she could use to make a living, but always thought – who would grant such an opportunity to an illiterate?
However, Meena believed that one day God would notice her and her life would take a new turn. And in fact, one day a relative told her about the Navajyoti Training Center. But when she met Sister Teresa Madassery, the director of Navajyoti, she learned that she would have to pay a part of the training fee. This disappointed her because she had no money. Then Mahila ko Haat helped her wishes come true, sponsoring her six-month training.
That training lit the lamp of knowledge in her dark life. Meena has since learnt to read and write. Najerath Society[ii], the organization that supports children who work in carpet factories in Kathmandu, offered her a job within a week of the end of her training. She was elated to be working for a monthly salary instead of daily wages and of being able to support her father.
Meena worked hard and with devotion but did not want to stay in Kathmandu. Instead she wanted to return to her village and empower other women by sharing her knowledge and skills with them. She got an opportunity to go during Dasain[iii], when the Maoists called a temporary ceasefire, and her office closed for the festival.
Meena was anxious to go to her village, meet her mother and receive a tika from her. However, within two days of her stay, the Maoists were insisting that she join them. Fortunately, she fell ill, so that danger was postponed for some time. But conditions in her village were worsening – the roads to the district headquarters were blocked and life was becoming impossible. There was no question of staying to train her fellow villagers. Meena managed to escape to Kathmandu.
Unfortunately, she had been replaced in the office because she had not been able to communicate about her predicament on time, as there was no telephone in her village. Her life was clouded once again. To prevent Meena from returning to her previous life, Navajyoti gave her shelter. Today she works for the organization, which has promised to provide her with shelter until she gets another job.
Meena was unable to empower the women in her village because of the adverse situation there. However, she says she has not lost hope and plans to go back to her village when the chaos ends.
Simali chhayama basi
Bhariya lamo saas phereko[i]
The above song by songwriter and singer, Jiwan Sharma, is very popular. Ram Bahadur Bhujel, who is from the Shaileshwori village in Dolakha district, hums this song nowadays. He lets out a deep sigh whenever he is carrying a load on his back. However, there is no shade of a village silk-cotton tree (which the song mentions), under which he could rest his load.
Ram Bahadur makes his living by working in a furniture shop in Dillibazar, Kathmandu. He came to the capital after the Maoists made life in his village impossible by forcing the locals to prepare food for them and forcing many to join their movement. His 16-year-old daughter Meena went along to support her ageing father. Ram Bahadur works as a porter while Meena washes dishes for a living. She hopes that her future will shine like the dishes that she washes every day.
Because she comes from a very poor financial background, Meena never had the opportunity to go to school. She wanted to learn vocational skills that she could use to make a living, but always thought – who would grant such an opportunity to an illiterate?
However, Meena believed that one day God would notice her and her life would take a new turn. And in fact, one day a relative told her about the Navajyoti Training Center. But when she met Sister Teresa Madassery, the director of Navajyoti, she learned that she would have to pay a part of the training fee. This disappointed her because she had no money. Then Mahila ko Haat helped her wishes come true, sponsoring her six-month training.
That training lit the lamp of knowledge in her dark life. Meena has since learnt to read and write. Najerath Society[ii], the organization that supports children who work in carpet factories in Kathmandu, offered her a job within a week of the end of her training. She was elated to be working for a monthly salary instead of daily wages and of being able to support her father.
Meena worked hard and with devotion but did not want to stay in Kathmandu. Instead she wanted to return to her village and empower other women by sharing her knowledge and skills with them. She got an opportunity to go during Dasain[iii], when the Maoists called a temporary ceasefire, and her office closed for the festival.
Meena was anxious to go to her village, meet her mother and receive a tika from her. However, within two days of her stay, the Maoists were insisting that she join them. Fortunately, she fell ill, so that danger was postponed for some time. But conditions in her village were worsening – the roads to the district headquarters were blocked and life was becoming impossible. There was no question of staying to train her fellow villagers. Meena managed to escape to Kathmandu.
Unfortunately, she had been replaced in the office because she had not been able to communicate about her predicament on time, as there was no telephone in her village. Her life was clouded once again. To prevent Meena from returning to her previous life, Navajyoti gave her shelter. Today she works for the organization, which has promised to provide her with shelter until she gets another job.
Meena was unable to empower the women in her village because of the adverse situation there. However, she says she has not lost hope and plans to go back to her village when the chaos ends.