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A teacher with no education

Srimaya Bhitriya has been a member of the Community Radio Madanpokhara listener club in Suseli, Pokharathok VDC for two years. The group consists of children and young people aged 8 to 23 and has 24 members. Every month they meet and discuss issues of interest for themselves and their parents. They make a monthly action plan and until now environment protection, informal education classes and construction of a road have had their first priority.

To Srimaya - who is from the Damai caste of traditional tailors - being a member of the group has spun off many things. After participating for one year she was chosen to be the vice chair person and this year she has been awarded for being an especially active member in the group. From her smiling face one can tell that she is proud of the recognition from her friends. But not only have the members of the club benefited from Srimaya’s transition from a quiet girl to an outspoken and skillful social worker. Her mother and 22 other women in the village are as least as thankful. For 9 months they received informal education classes conducted by Srimaya and her friend Srijana Gaire. For three months the two girls aged 20 and 21 volunteered two hours a day, from 8 to 10 o’clock in the morning. The VDC gave the women books and pens and after three months the District Education Office offered salary and provided materials for the informal education class.

Srimaya and Srijana did not have any experience in teaching and were not given any training either. Despite their lack of experience they succeeded in changing the quality of life of their fellow female villagers. Srimaya failed her SLC exam (School Leaving Certificate, an exam after class 10), while Srijana is studying Nepali literature and political science.

To Srimaya the conducting of the classes and being a member of the listener club has given great satisfaction: “Before I joined the group I was not aware about many things. Now I know about environment protection and I dare raise my voice in discussions. I do not want to sit in the back anymore. The most important change for me is that I am now a helper in my society. I would like to continue this work”. With 13 new goals agreed upon ranging from preserving the local water resources and reducing the intake of alcohol in the community, Srimaya and her friends in the listener club have a lot of social work to continue.