While success is a subjective notion, different people have different interpretations of what it means. For some, it is a sense of success, a healthy lifestyle, or the achievement of a goal. Anyone who has achieved success understands what it takes to be successful. Similarly, five girls worked their fingers to the bone to get to where they are now. Come along with me on their road to success and prove how hard work pays off!
All five girls were born and brought up in a rural area of Makwanpur district’s Kailash Rural Municipality. A community that is geographically challenging to embrace infrastructure development received assistance from the Shangri-La Development Association, which is devoted to bringing sustainable reforms in the education, health, and agriculture sector.
There is a famous Nepali saying that quotes, “Dhunga khojda deuta milnu” which rough translation in English is Finding God while searching for stones. When asked how and why they came to SDA, the girls all gave the same answer. When they were in severe need of support, they discovered it in the form of SDA. As a result, the quote above is applicable.
Ram Maya Chepang
Ram Maya is one of the brightest students. Also, who is a disciplined one. In 2022, Ram Maya was awarded the Outstanding Performance of the Year by Kailash Municipality for her exceptional academic performance. She was one of the top scorers in the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) from her school and the municipality. What an achievement! Currently, she is pursuing a Diploma in Civil Engineering. She goes to Gambhir Samundra Setu Secondary School in Mahalaxmi Nagarpalika in Lalitpur district. Getting admission to an engineering degree is not easy. What’s even tough is to earn a government scholarship with a hundred percent. Another achievement. Another milestone created!
Ram Maya knew she wanted to pursue engineering after attaining excellent grades in 10th grade, and she understood the path would be equally challenging. Ram Maya understood the scope engineering holds. She liked the fact that engineering is a respected profession and has a lot of
career prospects. When asked how her preparation went she gives credit to her hard work and resilience. Nevertheless, she persisted!
Journey as an engineering student, Ram Maya recalls her first tenure in college. “Ughh, that was tough. A tough journey for me. I felt homesick often. But with the immense support from my family and SDA, I would scrap the thought of giving up. Also, after I started college, I realized the subject was far more difficult than I had anticipated.” Luckily, the new place and new friends were welcoming. Her ambition is to become a licensed engineer. A prosperous one who works and earns to live the life she never had!
“With great power comes great responsibility.” Like the quote suggests for her, applying theoretical knowledge into practice is what serves the purpose of education at last. The community she belongs to has no access to drinking water, higher secondary schools, proper road management and waste management. Thus, she is determined to make a difference in her community. She plans to return to her hometown after graduating from college and work relentlessly. Education will be the foundation of her development. She believes whatever she is today is because of the opportunity provided by SDA and her zeal to become someone and her dreams to accomplish big things for her community. The goal is to implement engineering into fieldwork and to show people what wonder education can bring to the individual and community.
Maili Maya Chepang
Who doesn’t want to be at peace inside themselves? Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by individuals who are kind and caring? We sing compassion slogans- kindness makes the world a better place to live in. But what if you knew someone who was both kind and compassionate, as well as hardworking? Isn’t it the icing on the cake? Similarly, SDA was lucky to have someone who fits the same profile. Maili Maya Chepang is her name.
Maili is pursuing a Diploma in Forestry. She attends the Thaha Polytechnic institute at Thaha Municipality, Chitlang in Makwanpur district. Her journey at SDA began when one of her teachers told her about the organization. Her family was having a hard time financing the family.
The reason why Maili was taken into the Literacy Home. Maili answers with integrity the difference between staying at her home and Literacy Home is that SDA takes education seriously and that the organization is wholeheartedly dedicated to ensuring the progress of its students. And then, lands herself a full scholarship. Another success story for SDA!
After the SEE, she did not know which subject to pursue. With the help of the SDA field staff, she was gradually learning about the scope of different subjects in Nepal. Seeing the need of protecting our forests and animals, she decided to go with Forestry. For that SDA provided a Council for Technical and Vocational Training (CTEVT) book to prepare for the entrance exam for the Diploma in Forestry. She did not take a bridge course. It was just her sheer dedication and hard work that she was able to achieve a scholarship at her institution. It was certainly not easy. The rigorous process of studying on her own and getting admitted to study the subject of her desire is commendable. Maili credits her achievement to SDA for career counseling and all the help she received from the organization.
Moving out of her village like others was one of the most difficult things she had to do. Coping with the new environment, students and teachers scared her in the beginning. The transition of moving out seemed overwhelming but as I mentioned earlier, she is one of the most kind-hearted and caring people you know, and that is the biggest reason why people around her feel safe and get friendlier in no time. Another thing that always keeps her grounded is the belief that SDA will always have her back in difficult times. Thus, she is grateful to SDA for teaching them adaptive and self-reliability skills early on in their life.
Shanti Chepang
Shanti, an enthusiast of Nepali Literature, wrote poems often based on the daily struggles and hardships of her village. As her name suggests, Shanti is a peace-loving and shy person. Given her timid personality, Shanti was fond of reading and would spend most of her time indulging herself in the book, a life beyond reality. She expressed most of her feelings through singing. As much as she loved being by herself, she equally enjoyed entertaining others with her melodious voice.
Shanti, who is now pursuing a Diploma course in Plant Science at Jagriti Secondary School Chauri Deurali Gaupalika-5 in Kavre district is also a government scholarship holder. She received a full scholarship to study this course. A success story that was only derived from sheer hard work and sheer perseverance.
Of course, the journey from being a shy person who often cornered herself, securing a good result at the SEE and then landing herself a scholarship for further studies took her blood, sweat and tears to come to the position she is in today. It did not take anybody by surprise of her achievement but what amused everybody was that Shanti being this shy person had so much untapped potential that eventually flourished out of nowhere.
Shanti knew she was interested in plants from the time she was a teenager. One of SDA’s core values is sustainability, and agriculture is the focal point for leading and teaching sustainability. Literacy Home provides a practical teaching-learning place for the girls to learn about the capacity of vegetation production in their community. Agriculture, she believes, would be a benefit to Nepal’s prosperity. For the tiniest of reasons, our country is dependent on other countries. This is why she felt compelled to study Plant Science to help her community increase its supply of vegetables and crops. As a result, Shanti picked this subject as her diploma major.
They say success is no accident. They are right. Those who persevere are always rewarded. Achieving a position was also difficult for Shanti. Every day was a fresh start for her. The more she worked, the less she felt she was accomplishing. “I realized that to get the government scholarship, I needed to undertake self-study and practice on my own,” she adds. She felt bewildered at times and questioned her preparations. She questioned her ability. Nonetheless, Shanti, a diligent student, refused to allow pessimism to affect her. In addition, the SDA field personnel mentored the children and encouraged them to keep going.
When Shanti received a scholarship and had to leave her village, her life turned upside down. She couldn’t believe what she saw the moment she stepped out of her village. She was astounded by the infrastructures she had only read about in textbooks. For someone like Shanti, who had
never traveled outside of her comfort zone, relocating to another city was a new challenge. Yet, she is excelling in her everyday activities and learning new and intriguing things.
Muna Maya Waiba
Muna is a student with a Diploma in Forestry and goes to Kamala Janajyoti Secondary School in Kamalamai Nagarpalika in the Sindhuli district. She is one of the five girls who successfully achieved a scholarship.
Muna is a shy person, but when it comes to public speaking, she is much different. She was quite fond of drawing art and did an excellent job at it. Everyone remembered Muna whenever the Literacy Home had problems with electrical cables and equipment. Her untapped ability to repair them was admirable. She was a hardworking student. She was actively involved in extracurricular activities at school and Literacy Home. Her commitment to her studies enabled her to get high marks in the Secondary Education Examination (SEE).
Her father brought her to SDA, and she remembers the day she stepped foot in the Home and how her life changed after that! It was difficult to sit for SEE. To earn good grades, a lot of hard work and concentration was required. Good grades equaled better opportunities. How could she possibly let go? Her hopes and goals were tied to her performance on the board examination. Muna was born and raised in a community where even thinking about basic amenities seemed unattainable. All she had to do to live her ideal life was to keep working hard and trust in herself and her abilities!
Muna struggled to choose a subject of study following the SEE. She was gullible. Career counseling was offered to the students. She chose to major in forestry science. She may have chosen this topic out of curiosity. Ken Robinson once said, “Curiosity is the engine of achievement.” Muna exemplifies the idea of this quote the best.
Lalita Sunar
Lalita is another student from the Literacy Home who was completely successful in obtaining a government scholarship. She was drawn to agriculture from an early age since she was born into a farming family. Her passion for agriculture expanded when the students of Literacy Home used to go to the SDA agriculture farm every Friday to learn to farm. Currently pursuing a Diploma in Plant Science at Jiri Technical School in Jiri, Dolakha, she was known for her talent in singing and drawing art. She is a creative person and public speaking interests her. Lalita is someone who will never say no to adventures and trying out new things. Like her friend, Muna, she also has a natural ability to fix cables and ties. So many talents in one person!
Lalita says, “To achieve a scholarship one needs to be good in subjects like math, science and English. Most importantly, one needs to be decisive and not wander around and waste time choosing subjects rather just focus on one thing you are intrigued about and carry on with that thing and never regret your decision in life.”
“There is no such thing as a free lunch.” There is a cost to everything. Only she understands how much hard work she has put in to get to this point in her life. The long days of studying and then just studying, with self-doubts lurking in her mind about whether she would succeed or not, were a continual source of stress for her. But they say that if you put your heart and soul into something, nothing can stop you from reaching your goals. Lalita did it that way!
SDA gave these girls wings. They were the ones that learnt to fly! They are committed to giving back to society. Everyone aspires to be a great personality, much like the SDA team, who work tirelessly to make students’ goals come true. They aspire to be role models in their family and community. They are all sending out a message to the upcoming SEE graduates of the SDA-supported Literacy Home. They want to emphasize that education is the key to success. “Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. However, keep in mind that success is not easy to arrive by. Those who can persevere in life can accomplish great things. And, once you’ve met your goals, always return to the place that made you. Only when you have attained the goal and purpose for which you set out can you assess your accomplishment!”