By Jacqueline Frost | Development and Communications Manager
When Choodamani was a boy he burned his foot and became partially disabled. His social worker wrote to us explaining that his school was far away, across a river — too far for the boy to limp there on his own. The letter quoted 12-year old Choodamani saying he wanted to be "the Charles Darwin of Nepal!" So we brought this ambitious young boy to start a new life at J House, our home for boys, where school would be easily accessible and he would be well-cared for
Choodamani eventually became our very first J House graduate, and we're as proud as any family would be. After high school, he got a job in a hospital as a physical therapist while he took classes at college. He eventually became a leader in Nepal's emerging disability rights movement, and served on Nepal's National Federation of the Disabled.
Choodamani and another J house graduate, Rajan, recently teamed up to start a day care center and school for children of poor families in Kathmandu. Most of the parents who send their children to Choodamani and Rajan's center are disabled themselves or work in very low-wage jobs — so they normally couldn't afford a school like this for their children.
But Choodamani and Rajan raise funds to keep tuition at the center low and to provide scholarships. Now dozens of children are getting the education they need to create a path out of poverty — and parents can go to work knowing their kids are safe and thriving.
Thank you for helping young people like Choodamani live full and independent lives.
Namaste!
Links:
By Jacqueline Frost | Manager, Development and Communication
By Robin Woodland | Director of Development and Communications
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