"I want to be a police woman"

Why sponsor this child?

Lila Basnet lives with her parents and 10 month old sister in a small house made from wood and tin. Lila also has two elder sisters but due to financial problems, Lila’s parents had to send them to live with their relatives.

Lila’s father had leprosy and was cured only a year ago with assistance from an organization in Kathmandu. He couldn’t work until he was healed and has since been picking up work in farms doing manual labor. It is often that the family has to spend the day hungry if he does not find any work. Thus Lila looks malnourished. Another occasional source of income for the family is the fishing pond that Lila’s mother started with loans while her father was unable to work. The pond has a few catfish but the yield is very low due to lack of maintenance. Once in a while Lila’s mother manages to sell some fish and at other times the fish need to be consumed at home for dinner.

Lila is 13 but studies only in the first grade at a local government school. She started school very late because the family couldn’t afford her a school uniform and the exam fees. However, she is very passionate about going to school. She wants to join a boarding school where she thinks she will excel in her studies, though poverty has kept her dreams at bay. As an educated adult, Lila sees herself as a police-woman. When asked why she wants to be a police-woman, she replied confidently, “I want to help women in trouble and bring justice and empowerment to women.” Your sponsorship would send Lila to school and give her a chance to achieve her dreams.