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The only constant in life is change...

Friday, July 15, 2011

So far I have been in the country for about 9 days have have been
working for about 4 days. If I had to used 1-2 words to describe my
stay so far, it would have to be : Eye Opening.
At home I've taken cold showers expecting warm water to come any
minute, had a cockroach jump on my chest and have probably gained
one pound a day due to everyone's lovely cooking and persistence!haha
        At my internship, Maiti Nepal, I have not only been honored to meet
Ms. Anuradha Koirala, but also her team, who are as much of a hero as
she is.
       My first day here, I worked at the Women Rehabilitation Center (WRC) with girls and
women ages 11-35  who were thirsty to learn. I worked closely with a 13 year old girl who was always
jumping around and smiling brightly. She was so eager and dedicated
that within 3 hours she learned the ABC's, could recite it, sing the
song, AND recognize the letters. I've had great moments in my tiny 21
years, but I can honestly say that I have never felt so proud than I
did at the moment she recited it all to me. Proud of her for being so
smart and dedicated, and proud to have been the one to teach her! Not
only did I quickly get attached to her, but she did to me. She would
hold my hand, twirl around and recite the ABC's just to see me smile. And boy did she make me smile!
       After teaching we all had lunch hour and during that time I went to
the infant ward. There were about 8 infants there and were all so
adorable and fragile. These infants, I found out, were either children
of the trafficked girls, or were unwanted and dropped off at the gate
of Maiti Nepal. Here, at this organization, I quickly witnessed, that
nobody is denied, and there is no sort of discrimination against
anyone with any type of caste. Being overwhelmed by the situation of
these infants and cuteness, I went to the garden and saw the girl I
had taught earlier come running to me. She ran and asked me if I had
seen her little one. At first I thought she was referring to all the
infants as her own, since the girls treat each other's kids like their
own, but no; I found out, that she did in fact has her own child.
This adorable, bubbly, 13 year old had been raped at the age of 12 by
her family member and had run away from home. Maiti Nepal took her in
and helped her give birth to her now, 4 month old son. I could not
believe it, this little girl, who is still a child herself, had a
child of her own.  This little girl who weighs about 70 lbs, this
little girl who has such an adorable bright smile, and this little girl who
just learned her ABC's a few hours earlier had a child of her own?! It
was just unbelievable. I had never imagined that this was her
situation. The Child Protection Center (CPC) takes care and fends for
her son, since she is to young to do so, but she is allowed to see her son, whenever she chooses.
The organization here has created such an environment that if an
outsider who knew nothing about this organization came, they would never guess
what the past of these girls were and just think it's an ordinary
school with dorms for ordinary girls with great lives. They are given
all the facilities, all the resources, and are constantly encouraged
to follow whatever dream they desire. My adorable 13 year old, wants
to be an actress at the moment, and loves to dance, and she is
constantly encouraged by allowing her to take part in small type of
group dances that learn cultural dance and perform in front of small
and large audiences.

2 comments:

  1. woah, im truly inspired and im soo proud of you sister!

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  2. im very proud too! please keep the blog entries coming.

    ReplyDelete