As I walked through the village of Peepaltar in the Nuwakot, I came across a wooden walled tin roof structure with the word "library" scribbled on the wall. I came to know from the locals that it was in fact a library built in the initiation of Heifer’s Self-Help Groups, Jalpa and Bhoomisthan Mahila Smuha (Women’s Group) for Fulbari Bal Samuha (Children’s Group). I looked at the walls of this building that were the pride and joy of the people who built them. With a heavy heart, I returned home with a desire to do my best to help.
Month’s later, two high school students from Kathmandu visited the village for an educational tour. With the money given by their father as a birthday gift, they bought books worth USD 36 for the library. My will to do something was strengthened even further.
I had just finished reading John Wood’s, “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.” His emotional journey in the book was so similar to what I went through at Peepaltar that I could not resist the temptation to gather my thoughts and write to him. The e-mail address at the end of the book coaxed me to give into my temptation. I jotted a range of emotions similar to his and sent him an e-mail. A reply from John was not expected. But it was hoped for. So the disappointment of having nothing in my inbox the next day was buffered by the realization that it would be impossible for him to answer everyone who wrote to him about the book. However, the next day an e-mail from John made my day. Within the couple of e-mails that we exchanged in a few days, I managed to tell him about the library in Peepaltar and my determination to help them.
John Wood is the founder of “Room to Read,” an organization that is dedicated to providing education to children deprived of it by setting up libraries. Call it coincident or fate, but our goals were the same. I contacted the director for Nepal and arranged to materialize our visions. With around 500 english and nepali books under my supervision, I headed for Peepaltar with a content heart and a mission fulfilled.
Amrit Bhandari
Kathmandu, Nepal
Mobile:-00977-9841369872
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