February 2, 2022
Aradhana Kahar is a girl studying at Patkhauli Udaan Center. She is 11 years old. Her father and mother work as wage laborers in India, and she has been living with her grandparents. She has nine family members including three sisters and a brother. Aradhana stayed in Nepal to take care of her grandmother while her sisters and brother live in India with their parents. She lives in Omastiya 5, Patkhauli, Rupandehi. Caring for her grandmother from an early age, she had never attended formal school, and a lack of a proper educational environment at home kept her out of the classroom.
Under the UDAAN III program implemented in partnership with CARE Nepal and BES Nepal, girls in Aaradhana's neighborhood who had never gone to school or had not completed primary education were admitted to the Udaan class of Patkhauli Udaan Center. At first she was reluctant because of her limited reading ability, but her grandmother enrolled her. Once she started attending regularly she began to feel comfortable. With the help of her friends and her Udaan teacher she is now very interested in her studies: she can add, subtract and multiply in mathematics, and read words and compose sentences in Nepali. An active participant in every activity at the centre, she asks her friends and teachers whenever she does not understand something. Udaan teacher Saraswati Chaudhary is happy to see the change in Aradhana, even though she had to be taught from the very basics.
Since the centre opened, her attendance has been regular every day. Being responsible in her work has changed her personal behaviour, and she can clearly explain the subjects taught. Looking at her interest in studies, it is clear that in the days to come she will further hone her skills, to which the Udaan project has made an invaluable contribution. Aaradhana's grandmother says happily, "Ab to hamar bitiya bhi padhke badha mania bani".