2.5 Prativa dreams of becoming a doctor
Prativa Luitel is 13 and from Morang district. Today she lives in Gaurighat in Kathmandu in a rented room with her family, and studies in Class 4 at SSS, along with her sister Balkumari.

We were waiting for Prativa’s school bus on a rainy day, on 17th August 2006. When she got off, she started walking very fast as she had no umbrella. We wanted to know more about her family and were going to meet her parents.

“How far is your home, Prativa?” we asked her, as we were walking.

“How far should I say, Sir?” she answered. “We always feel it’s very far.”

When we reached her home, after walking for half an hour, only her mother Indira was there; her father, a laborer, was still at work. Thanks to a big window, the room was bright, but Indira’s face wasn’t.

We asked her sister, “Tell us, Balkumari, what you want to be after you finish school?”

“I don’t know,” answered Balkumari. “I have not thought about it.”

Then we asked Prativa, “What about you?”

“I want to be a doctor,” she answered without hesitating, adding, “In our school most of the students have leprosy and are weak, so I want to be a doctor and serve those sick people.”

Prativa’s mother let out a big sigh. She had just come from work, washing clothes in the neighborhood. “My daughter wants to be a doctor but here it is very difficult to provide food for them in the morning and evening,” she said. “We cannot even manage books, a pen and notebooks for them; I don’t know how I can fulfill her dream of being a doctor.”

Prativa’s parents used to send their three children to a government school in Kathmandu. But when they were unable to pay the admission fees, they were not allowed to continue. Their mother worried about how they were going to educate their children. Then one of her neighbors told her about SSS and she applied. Luckily, her two children were accepted.

She likes the school’s teaching method and is planning to send her younger son to SSS next year. She feels that the children are getting a good education, along with their morning meal.

Prativa’s family owned just a small straw house in their village, so her father and mother lived in Urlabai, Morang, where they went to find work. Her mother collected wood from the jungle and sold it in the market while her father worked as a laborer. The parents spent 13 or 14 years in that place, but because the market there was very small, and there were frequent strikes, it was very difficult for her father to get jobs. After some time, authorities no longer permitted people to collect wood in the jungle. When the Maoist activities increased, Prativa’s parents decided to leave.

This is how Prativa described the Maoist activities in her village: “The Maoists came at night and asked us to cook for them. Many times my mother cooked for them. We were so afraid when they came and threatened us by showing weapons. So, I asked my father and mother to leave that place.”

Prativa’s uncle lived in rented accommodation in Jadibuti in Kathmandu. He worked as a laborer, and with his help, the family moved to the capital in December 2004.

Says Prativa’s mother, “For poor people like us everywhere is trouble. But in Kathmandu it is not difficult to get a job. I can earn Rs 100 a day washing dishes and clothes. The children are much happier here than they were in the village; they can often meet their uncles. Now we are feeling comfortable in this new place.”

Prativa remembers her village school: “We used to study in a government school. The education system was not good, so we often failed exams.” Her sister Balkumari added, “I like the schools of Kathmandu and also the system of teaching. Shanti Sewa School is very beautiful and decorative and has a playground and beautiful flowers.”

A girl named Kanchan Pokharel from Arghakhanchi is a tenant in the same house as Prativa and helps her with her homework. Says Kanchan, “Their English is very poor, maybe it is because they studied in the village.”

“No, no,” says her sister. “She is spoilt because she watches the TV.”

The family does not have a television and when their neighbor turns on the TV they peep from their window. “If we had enough money we would also buy a TV,” says Prativa’s mother. “It is very hard to fend for the family of six. How to afford a TV?”

However, when her daughters sing and recite poems they have learnt in school she becomes very happy. “The school did not provide any textbooks,” Indira expressed her grievance. “I don’t know what to do.” The school administration said that textbooks could not be arranged for because they were enrolled late. After returning from Prativa’s room, I kept wondering if her dream of becoming a doctor would come true, in a life so filled with crises.