Programs - Stories from the Field

Suka Laxmi Tamang, Girls' Education Program Participant from Nepal

The Girls' Education program provides much more than an education for girls in need. It provides the opportunity for a future - for each girl, her family, and her community.

Suka Laxmi is eight years old. She loves to dance, sing, and read storybooks. She is a shy and well-disciplined girl both at home and in school. In the future, she hopes to be a teacher and impact other children's lives for the better.

Three years ago, in an effort to improve their difficult economic conditions, Suka Laxmi's family moved away from a rural area to Kathmandu, but they have continued to struggle and were not able to send the children to school. Her father works as a carpenter and sells vegetables seasonally, while her mother works in a carpet factory, where she earns less than one US dollar each day.

Both Suka Laxmi and her older sister now participate in the Girls' Education program. Committed to doing all he can to support his daughters' education, the girls' father built a small steel structure near the school that she attends - where the family now lives. Through education, her father believes his daughters can improve their living conditions and, in so doing, achieve a more secure future. He is proud that they are the first children in his family to attend formal school.