He completed his SLC from Laboratory School in Kirtipur where he secured good marks. However, he faced a difficult time because colleges were not ready to admit him. German Nepal Health Organization offered him a scholarship through which he continued his studies. [break]
Panthi believes that the community needs to be empowered if there is to be any sustainable development in the field of disability development. “We also need more funds and to learn to utilize the funds properly. Capacity building of the community and the donors should also be developed,” he says.
He also states that there still is a lot of ignorance on the issues relating to disability, and hence people tend to ignore it, too. Due to this ignorance in people, many barriers like that of physical infrastructure, information communication, attitude and capacity building exist and those disabled are isolated and deprived of opportunities.
Panthi remembers the incident where his teachers forced him to discontinue attending the local community school. It still is painful for him to remember that moment, he says. When organizations count their success rate for enrolling children to school, the disabled children are being ignored, he points out.
However, one happy moment he holds close to his heart is the staging of an indefinite hunger strike with five other people. “I was leading this hunger strike and we broke it after six days because the government agreed to fulfill our demands. We wanted the government to pay attention to the issues of the disabled people. Before the hunger strike, there was not much attention given to this issue and it was limited to some organization within Kathmandu. Yet, the strike gathered much media attention,” he smiles.
Panthi states that though he is not very intelligent or hard working, he is an honest man who believes in transparency. “Let’s think positively and try to work for the betterment of the society. Instead of thinking for our self, we should do it for the community and change the lives of the poor and the excluded,” he says.
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