KATHMANDU, April 8: ‘I want to be doctor or engineer’. This is most common answer you hear from children when asked about their aim. Like other kids, Prabhakar Kafle 19-year-old aspired to be a doctor when he was young. But as the time passed also his dream is changing. He now wants to see himself in the field of computer though he had clinched bronze medal in International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2017 held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. That was the first bronze medal for Nepal in International Olympiads after 6 years.

Talking about his other achievements, he is also the winner of Eastern Regional ‘Tasty-Tasty Quiz Contest 2015’ organized by Biratnagar Junior Jaycees, Nepal Science Olympiad 2016, Pulchowk Physics 2017, Maths Olympiad 2017 and Physics Olympiad 2017 which is the selection stage for International Physics Olympiad.

“I first knew about Physics Olympiad when I was in Grade 11. A senior brother from our college had represented Nepal in IPhO 2015 in Mumbai. At that time, I felt like, ‘Wow!’ As I was very much interested in Physics, a dream also developed in me to represent the country in the international stage, get some honor for the country,” he shared. “After two years, my dream came true as finally participated in the event.”

Kafle, who is originally from Morang, now lives in Dillibazzar, Kathmandu. An introvert boy, Kafle gradually got fascinated with books. As a result, he got Bronze Full scholarship from class 2 to 12 who had passed SLC with distinction from Bal Kalyan Vidya Mandir (BKVM) Secondary School, Biratnagar in 2015 and passed higher study with distinction from Golden Gate International College, Battisputali.

Despite having interest in physics, he is now motivated to get into IT sector since he was fond of solving puzzles and challenges. He now finds computers as perfect thing to work with. With the challenges he faces while programming and designing by computer, he finds his work more exciting. “Curiosity and complications always motivate me,” he shared.

Inspired by the idea that “as there is will, there is a way”, he designed website called Hamrolagi.com with an aim of filling the gaps of necessity and availability of important resources. He felt so when he was preparing for Physics Olympiad. “I couldn’t find information and resources that were tailor-made for Nepal. Moreover, there were different events which I missed just because there wasn’t enough information about them. So, I started this website,” he shared. He started learning web designing in Grade 8 but it was not until last year when he went live on the internet.

He however learnt all these techniques on his own as he thought that the education system is not much supportive in these matters. And he found internet full of resources to explore new ideas. YouTube, Google and different other forums were helpful.

However, according to him there are hurdles in establishing and running website in Nepal. He said there is no international payment gateway in Nepal and the service providers here in Nepal are relatively expensive and the quality is also low. So if one wants to create a website, either he has to compromise with the quality and cost or has to seek support from someone abroad. Besides, there general public are less informed about the resources available in internet as they are interested to limited sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

After completion of his under graduation, he wants to start his project with a plan to bring about reforms in the education sector in Nepal. Similarly, he along with his friends, have been organizing Olympiads, scientific discussions and different programs for +2 students to get more exposure and explore opportunities.