Education

KJ– is an ANM-Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife, truly a loving, caring , very skilled nurse and a single mother of a 14 year old boy. She had to cut her education short in order to get married per her family’s wishes at the age of 18… She was forced to leave her good job in Nepal to comply with the demands of her in-laws and moved to Bihar. Eventually her family ended up in Delhi. It is difficult for an ANM to find jobs that pay reasonably and respect her. She has been diligently working unbearable hours, constantly trying to improve herself despite the obstacles put on her way with her employers. She is trying so hard to make a life and a brighter future for her son..

Today she is in the second year of her higher nursing education. She does correspondence classes with on site written and practical exams at Maharsi Dayanand Institute of Nursing in Haryana. When she graduates next year she will be able to work as a GNM- General Nurse and Midwife under much better conditions while continuing on to earn her BSN…

P– She grew up with an abusive father under very difficult conditions. After finally freeing herself from her abusive marriage her mother worked many demeaning jobs to provide and give education for her daughter. Pema also started working as well at a very young age and studied hard too.

Today this determined young lady is a psychologist with a Master’s degree from Chikka Muniyappa Reddy University in Bangalore.She came second in her class of 48. She has a good job helping many children who suffer and provides nicely for her tired mother and herself..

YY– works day and night to help children with cancer and their families. He is resourceful and always on call. From finding funds for treatment and medicine to providing a place to stay, food to eat, transportation, in some instances funerals and always solid support. He is a father of two. He has been struggling to provide not only for his wife and two children but also for his widowed mother and his two sisters. He has also been paying tuition for his younger sister to earn a BSN degree. Y did graduate studies in sociology without any specific designation. He has been working as a “ social worker “ with an NGO for a measly salary going through a rollercoaster life at times giving in to addiction..

Today, he has a better job with much better prospects. And… he is only months away from realizing his dream of many years. He will be graduating from Punjab School of Nursing as a GNM , to continue on to earn BSN…… And with the help of his new employer and his determination he is only steps away to start a palliative care center for children…

V– At the age of 12 he made the 24 hour journey from a remote village of Bihar to Delhi alone and managed somehow to be admitted to AIIMS Delhi. He has a tumor spreading in his sinuses. After series of tests and admissions , multiple procedures, many nights at shelters it was diagnosed as a non-malignant tumor…

His father is a daily wage earner, mother takes care of his 4 younger siblings,older brother went to university and now works as a tutor and provides for the whole family. Father did come to Delhi eventually….

Good news of Non cancer diagnosis comes with its own burden. Diminished financial help for treatment, for education, for transportation….

V still cannot eat properly due to a plate on his palate. He lost vision in the left eye and has failure to thrive. No matter what he is determined to attain his goal of speaking good English and becoming a doctor.
He found a school a few hours from his hometown. We helped him with tuition and hostel. Despite multiple hospital visits to Delhi he managed to kept up… His English did not improve at all, he had no support from administration and children were unkind.

Today at the age of 15 he is going to 5th grade in Kalimpong and is living in the Jamgon Kongtrul Memorial Home. He loves the home, the old people, the children…He appreciates the love and support and all the kindness. He is doing very well at the school and is writing thank you notes and talking on the phone in English.. He is using one phrase he never used before over and over : “I am happy”.

He still has a pending major surgery to remove the tumor, he will always be blind in the left eye and he still has the solid determination to become a doctor…

 

CT– was brought to the monastery in Kathmandu from Dolpo to be a monk at the age of 5. He was then brought to the Home in Kalimpong to go to school where he excelled continuously. He was sent for a short training to become an optometry technician. He worked in the eye hospital where he was brilliant..but not content. Desperately wanted to go to University…

Today he is a graduate of Institute of Optometry and Visual Sciences at D.Y Patil Vidya Peeth – Deemed –University. He was 2nd rank in the graduaduating class of 40. He is working in the outpatient clinic and also teaching at the reputed L.V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad where he interned.