Not all prayers are answered

Published07 June 2019

Reading Time 2 mins

Author Stories of Nepal

Location Nepal

"I wanted to be a nurse growing up. However, I never could gather the courage to express my wish to my father. For he was a strict man, a man who had spent his life as an army. I then went to ask an uncle for his suggestion hoping that he could grant me my wish. If he could put aside his male ego and let a girl become a nurse. He just snubbed me. He said, 'No, you shall not!'. The men never cared to explain why. It was their word, against which I could not rebel so I quietly obliged. There was no guidance at home. No one to tell me how to plan ahead for a career or to look for opportunities. I got married at an early age too. And after marriage, there was too much to deal with so I could not pursue my education. So I became a lab technician. Not all wishes come true but this is the best I could do. Today, I take solace in serving the poor and the sick... ...I see a lot of mental pressure for the men and women in our society and it has become a reason why everyone is unhappy. I see domestic violence and chronic alcoholism all the time. Recently, a wife who was psychotic beat up her husband to death. He drew his last breaths for 4 days and because the man was poor, there was no one to take him to the city. I am told the wife is in prison now. I was beside this man when he died. After many of these incidents, I have started questioning everything. Every night, I had set aside my thoughts and prayers for this man. But he died just like the many other deaths I have seen. Even though it feels hopeless at times, I will always work with the doctors and the hospital staff for anyone who comes in. The sick who come here need to get better and return to their husbands and wives, to their sons and daughters. But not everyone has a strong fate. There are many who do not make it back home. And, not all prayers are answered."

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