Our Bahini (Little Sister)

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting the Little Sister that we sponsored. Her name is Bishnu Maya. She is in third grade and a student at the school where I am teaching. Her hair is cut short and clings in tight ringlets to her head (which is unusual for Nepalis). She has a shy smile, and kept on stealing glances at me when she thought that I wasn’t looking. She has 3 siblings and lives with her family in a 2-room apartment. Her father makes 250 Rupees a day (roughly $3).
It was the weirdest feeling to be standing there with Bishnu’s family. I always knew that the money that I fund raised would change the course of a girl’s life, but that was somehow intangible in my mind, like reading a story about someone I have never met or trying to imagine the taste of something I have never eaten. Until now I had envisioned the funds going toward a nameless face. But as I stood there, with Bishnu’s mother clutching both my hands in hers, speaking Nepalese words of gratitude, I realized the enormity of my actions. No longer was the scholarship money for some girl in a far away land; it was for this girl, Bishnu, standing before me with dark eyes full of hopes and dreams that she now has the opportunity to pursue.
I want to pass on Bishnu’s mother’s words of thanks to you all, to whom the gratitude rightfully belongs, because without your generous donations it would have been very difficult to come to this point on my own. I know it may be hard for you to imagine, as it was for me, how much impact your contribution has made, but it has truly changed Bishnu’s life forever. And, what’s more, it has changed my life as well. Effectively, by donating to my cause, you have deeply impacted two women’s lives, Bishnu’s and my own (not to mention the 38 wonderful Ama Ghar children!) So, once again, and this won’t be the last time, I want to humbly thank everyone who helped make this possible.