“So why should one be discriminated for her caste or gender, or for the fact that she was born into a poor family?” she questions.
Born as the fourth girl child of a poor rural family, Radha has four sisters and a brother. Despite being illiterate, her parents harbored a passion for education and sent all their children to school.[break]
“In our community, ours was the first family to send all the children, even daughters, to school. We were poor, we didn’t have much land, and my father worked as a laborer. But my parents sent us all to school at any cost,” she says.
Today, her sisters are educated independent women.
Radha was essentially an anesthetic nurse, working in a government hospital. Over time, she continued her education and went on to study health education. While working in Bharatpur, she came upon a case of a young girl in coma. The girl had been raped by her cousin brother.
“It made me realize that I should get out of the four walls of the hospital. Also, encountering child porters in Jumla and seeing a woman die in front of me due to lack of proper medical attention pointed out the need of working in those areas,” she says.
Action Works Nepal is working in Jumla and Kalikot in a structured manner, while piloting in Achham, Humla, and Chitwan as well. On an international level, they are working to raise the voice and advocate the issues of equality, among others.
Radha believes that it is the mindset of the people that poses as a greater challenge to her work than any geographical difficulties.
“We’re trying to reach people through women’s empowerment programs, and other programs as well whereby we educate people in terms of civil and political rights, economic empowerment, gender-based violence, and provide support for any kind of disaster,” she explains.
Her parents have always been a source of inspiration for her. Radha remembers her mother telling her that crying was not a solution.
“I never saw her cry in front of me. My father taught me about having patience and working consistently in order to achieve a goal,” she states.
According to her, as long as a person has passion, then he can contribute and help people no matter where they are, what they are doing and where they are from. She adds, “There’s no restriction or boundary. It is how we’re working and we’re inviting all passionate, likeminded people to join us.”
Paudel was featured on “Inspirations: The Essence of Life,” a personality-based television series presented by Media Gallery and Global Exposition and Management Services, in association with Republica. The program is aired on Nepal Television every Wednesday at 10:10pm.
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