Manisha was only six years old when her father passed away in a construction accident. Her father brought her to the city of Pokhara from Rolpa, a highly undeveloped area in Nepal, in the hope of providing her a better education. To make ends meet, he worked grueling and dangerous 14-hour a day shifts at a construction site, only to make less than three dollars per day. Her father showed his unwavering love for his daughter through the blood, sweat, and tears he shed at work. He happily spent almost a third of his salary on her education.

She also has a lovely mother and a four-year-old brother. After Manisha’s father passed away, her mother also worked as a construction worker, earning a wage barely enough to cover rent and food, let alone Manisha’s tuition.

She has been part of our organization for over four years. She is currently in 10th grade in the English medium at Sitaldevi School in Pokhara, Nepal. Manisha hopes to be an elementary school teacher.

Like many parents, Manika’s mother, Saraswati Sunar, and father, Sher Bahadur Sunar, moved from the rural municipality of Madhi to Pokhara, Nepal in the hopes of providing a better future for their two children. Both Saraswati and Sher Bahadur worked as construction workers. Despite working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, the Sunar family’s salary was not enough to meet basic needs like paying rent, buying medicine for Manika's disabled 83-year-old grandmother, and funding their children's education. Saraswati and Sher Bahadur still remained hopeful for the future, so they borrowed money from their neighbors and family members to pay the remaining expenses. The couple was certain that they would be able to repay the money by working more hours. Unfortunately, inflation decreased the value of their salaries. They had to borrow more and more money, and defaulted on their debts.

At this point, Saraswati’s future was looking dim. She fell into despair, feeling that her life wasn’t worth living if she could not even provide her children with a basic education and necessities. In May 2019, 35 year-old Saraswati took her life, leaving behind her husband and two children. Saraswati's death completely shattered the Sunar family. Manika was on the brink of ending her educational pursuit, but with Bidya’s support, Manika is now in 8th grade at Shree Laxmi Secondary School. Manika shared that while she will never be the same after Saraswati’s death, she now has hope for her future, knowing that she will be able to go to school without having to worry about the finances.

Rupa’s father, like many others in Nepal, struggled to find stable employment. After Rupa was born, he went to India to work, so he could bring back his savings to build a life in Nepal. Shortly after Rupa’s father left for India, Rupa’s mother abandoned her and remarried. Rupa says she does not know her mother's name or even her face. When her father returned, Rupa saw only a glimpse of him as well. He also abandoned Rupa, built a new life by remarrying, and stopped providing her any financial support. Rupa had been living with her alcoholic brother, his second wife, and his two kids after her mother left, and she now lives with her brother permanently. Rupa was known to be a hardworking and dedicated student among her teacher and classmates. After her abandonment by both parents, Rupa missed school regularly, and when she was in school, she came with ripped clothes and no pencil. Rupa was no longer a top performer in class. With the support of Bidya, Rupa is attending an English Medium school at Janajyoti Mavi in Pokhara, Nepal. Rupa says she will be able to go to school without worrying about not having a pencil to do her math homework with. We have an officer conducting quarterly wellness checks on Rupa to make sure she is attending school and being taken care of.

Asika Paudel and her parents Tara and Sukraraj built a stable life for themselves farming a small plot of land in Kalika, Nepal. The income brought in from their farm helped pay for basic necessities like sugar, oil, and Asika’s education.

At one point, Asika's father suddenly grew weak and rapidly began to lose weight. Tara even remarked that her husband looked like a “daura” (stick in Nepali); you could see his bones through the skin. He became both physically and mentally unwell. The Paudel family, like most villagers in the area, initially turned to home remedies for a cure. But after these treatments failed to improve Sukraraj’s condition, they were forced to take him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the Paudels had to sell their family lands to pay for Sukraraj’s treatment. Because he received treatment very late, Sukraraj has suffered lingering long-term effects from his illness. He has stopped talking to people almost entirely, and he is unable to work.

As a woman in a Nepalese village, Tara has had difficulty finding a stable job. She still helps her neighbors farm lands for additional income, but that money is not enough to sustain the household. Asika has struggled to make payments for her school tuition and other educational expenses. With our assistance, as of 2022 she is now enrolled as an 9th grader in English Medium at Janajyoti Mavi.

At Bidya, we are strong believers in the power of family as a support unit. Although our sponsorship has kept Roshni continuously enrolled in middle school despite the pandemic, the team at Bidya was disheartened to find out that Roshni’s brother, Ujwal, was substantially delinquent on his fees and was on the verge of expulsion for failure to pay. Even though our main focus is on helping girls, it was crucial to our mission to make sure that Roshni’s brother could also attend school, because we wanted to foster a healthy environment for the family throughout Roshni’s adolescence. With our support, Ujwal is in 3rd grade. He said he enjoys going to school with his sister Roshni.

We’re proud to announce that your contributions have allowed us to on-board another scholar: Susmita Burtel (10th grade). She has a sister who is 1 year older. After her dad took his own life her mom works as a farmer to raise some money for the family Unfortunately, at the moment there are no schools that are nearby for Susmita and her mom commutes 1 hour each way by walking.