The world of Tzu Chi Nov-Dec 2022 (Vol.144)

TZU CHI 144 43 about 3,800 Nepalese rupees (RM130). Meow Hong then made a quick calculation on her mobile phone. Looking at the result, we three volunteers from Malaysia looked at each other, then said to Manoj we had decided to help Sharada’s daughter, Aniska, go to school. We suggested enrolling her in the private school the following day. Going to school June 22 was Aniska’s first day of school. It was a significant day, not just for the girl and her family, but for us Tzu Chi volunteers as well. A class director from the school made a special trip to Sharada’s home on a motor scooter to make sure that Aniska could go to the school. With him leading the way, Aniska’s grandma and father, we Tzu Chi volunteers, and Manoj accompanied the girl to school. We probably made up the largest team that had ever escorted a child to school in the village. In fact, the school is within sight from the yard of Sharada’s home. Many children pass the house on their way to the school every day. But despite its proximity, it might as well have been a hundred miles away for Aniska—she never would have been able to attend because her family could not afford it. Just two short weeks after she started going to school, Aniska looked completely different in appearance. Even volunteer Hong Siew Ling, who often visited the family, could hardly recognize her. She cupped Aniska’s little face in her hands and wondered if this was the same girl who used to stand with her arms akimbo, who did not like to wear clothes, and who often ran amok all over the yard of her home. In the days that followed, Aniska experienced many more “firsts” in her life. We brought new clothes to her and her brother, Aman, fromKathmandu. She also accompanied her brother in a car to a clinic to see the doctor. It was the first time Aniska had ever ridden in a car. She looked curiously at the four wheels that could move and listened with great interest to the sounds from the radio. Hardly able to contain her excitement, she talked incessantly with a smile on her face, not caring if the Tzu Chi volunteers riding with her could understand her or not. Early on the morning of August 5, volunteers Tulsi Narayan Matang and Unish Khyaju made a “spot check” on Aniska. They were concerned she might have had difficulty adapting to school life. They wanted to find out how things were going: would the girl have taken a dislike to school? As soon as they parked their car, they saw that Aniska was already up and getting ready for school. When Aniska saw the two volunteers, she grabbed her new toothbrush and ran to the water pump. Pumping some water into a cup, she brushed her teeth in Aniska is seen here brushing her teeth as she got ready for school on an early August morning. [Photo by Unish Khyaju]