Where others see challenges winners, it's said, espy only opportunities. Maggie Doyne, the 28-year-old New Jersey native who on Wednesday was crowned CNN Hero for 2015 is certainly a winner. Since 2007, CNN, the global television news channel, has been honoring 10 "everyday people changing the world" every year. An online poll is then held to pick one CNN Hero from among the 10 candidates. This year, the award went to Doyne, who used her babysitting savings from back in the States, worth around US $5,000, to set up a school, a woman's center and an orphanage in Surkhet district. Doyne's win marks the third time CNN has picked someone connected to Nepal as its Hero of the Year. In 2010 Anuradha Koirala was rewarded for her work with women rescued from Indian brothels. In 2012 it was the turn of Pushpa Basnet who was honored for her pioneering work with the children of incarcerated women. These three brave women are inspirations to all Nepalis, and Nepali women in particular. They are living proof that if you really want to help others you will always find a way.It isn't hard to see why Doyne was picked as CNN Hero this year. She was only 18 when she decided to take a 'gap year' after graduating from high school in 2006 and travel to Nepal. It was then that she first came in contact with orphan children of Surkhet and decided that it was her calling to look after their wellbeing. In 2010, she opened the Kopila Valley Primary School with 220 students. The students now enrolled with the school get education, daily meals and healthcare, all free. In 2013, Doyne started the Kopila Valley Women's Center which has since been providing training and vocation skills to women of Surkhet. Besides her work in Surkhet, Doyne through her Blinknow Foundation encourages and helps young people from developed countries to find work in developing countries. These are remarkable achievements for a woman under 30. Young Nepalis, often frustrated with the seemingly never-ending political instability and lack of good job openings, have plenty to learn from Doyne. She has shown that opportunities are everywhere if you know where to look. Doyne's success also shows that you don't need big degrees and long work experience to make an impact.
All you need is a burning passion, and an indomitable will to pursue that passion. All CNN Heroes are everyday people who decided they wouldn't let lack of money and fame come in the way of their mission of making the world a better place. The global recognition of these three determined women from Nepal also shows that selfless social work seldom goes unnoticed and unrewarded for long. But, then, it would be wrong to infer from this that what these women sought was fame. It is more likely that they, each in her unique way, loved their jobs so much they had no time to think of what the world thought of them.
Related story
'Between the Mountain and the Sky': Maggie Doyne's South Asian...
_20220508065243.jpg)
