Nepal

"Mother and father never showed me their tears. I knew they to sell a piece of land to buy gold and prepare the dowry money. I understood their fears. Many women who are married and go to their...

"I sell tea. But I also go to school. When I grow up and when I can read and write better, I am going to ask all the old and the young people here to gather and sit around me. Then I am going to give...

"I wanted to play with my girlfriends more than I wanted to go to school. I cannot blame my parents for not sending me to school. They did. When my father passed away I was 13 years old. I remember...

"The first question a lot of people ask me is if I know how to sing and dance. They attribute people with disabilities mostly with performance art. It is a stereotype used against people with...

"She is already very smart. Maybe a bit more than I am and that is what I want. A smart daughter. But the future seems difficult with all the competition. In the future, I want her to be happy. And...

(Part 1/2) "I am my parent's only son and because of that, I have received special treatment all my life. My parents are sheepherders. Rearing sheep is the generational occupation of our place. They...

(Part 2/2) "I also witnessed orthodox practices of caste and discrimination. Our village comprises mostly of Magars, families from the Dalit community, and a few Gurung families. I still hear stories...

"I am soft-spoken but I have a strong will. Maybe that is why I walked all the way to Khalanga to get extra tuition classes. I rented a room with a few other girls whom I had convinced to join me. I...

"I am a geologist. After the earthquake, my job required me to travel to villages and communities that were at high risk of natural disasters and earthquake-induced landslides. I remember going to a...

"If I had chosen to go to school, my sisters would have to work at home. I made a sacrifice for them. I chose to truly understand the scarcity at home. Maybe my sisters would have too but I decided...

"We are coming back from the Tamakoshi. The water current was unlike anything we have seen before. So how would we catch fish? Maybe we will tomorrow if the river doesn't go mad. This is how we ‘time...

(Part 1/2) "I and my sisters went to school maybe for a few days in a month. The teachers would ask why we were not in school. “We do not have money for books and paper”, we would reply. To be true...

(2/2) "The day I left home was the saddest day of my life. I knew that with us leaving one after the other mother would have less and less support. She would have to face father’s wrath all by...

"Sometimes, I wish I could stay in school. It is because at home, Father is mostly intoxicated and he finds many reasons to fight with Mother. So it gets loud here. But school is quiet and I like...

"Everyone shows sympathy. But it is my own heart that will have to endure. Everyone will have a few good words for these children, maybe they will hand them a packet of biscuit but I and their father...

“We only want our daughters to be able to fulfill their own dreams, not ours.”