The courage to survive: a sponsored child's story

Sagar, a former sponsored child living in the Makwanpur district of Nepal, tells how sponsorship has helped him progress from a difficult childhood to become a dedicated and talented member of his community.
  
"I was born as an only son in 1987 in Makwanpur district. My primary education was completed at a local school near my home. Then I joined a high school, which was far away. It took me several hours to travel there so my only option was to stay near the school.

While I was away, some kind of misunderstanding happened between my parents, which later resulted in divorce. This shocked me and made me very anxious. I couldn’t say anything to my parents because I was a small kid. At the time, I was only 8 years old.

Because I was living away from home, I had to work for survival. I never complained about the amount of work or the nature of the work. I did jobs like collecting grass, working at a farm, fetching water from the tap, washing dishes and so on. It was like the work of a servant.

This experience taught me that I had to study hard and do better to get away from these exploitative jobs. During my stay, I sometimes felt impatient but there was no way back. I saw it as a source of motivation that helped me to continue my study with the hope to achieve more in future.

The courage which I had, Plan had helped me to achieve through being the sponsored child of a lady from Germany. The correspondence with my sponsor through letters, images and drawing prompted my curiosity and encouraged me.

At school I received the care and attention which I was not getting from my parents. I was able to study hard with the regular guidance of my beloved teachers. As a result, I always secured good marks in the class.

Plan's scholarship helped me to achieve success in examinations. On top of that, I also passed the School Leaving Certificate examination, a highly-regarded qualification for students in Nepal. After leaving school, I was given the opportunity to study the Community Medicine Auxiliary Course with Plan's assistance. I passed the 15-month course with high marks.

After that, I searched for an organisation where I could apply the skills and knowledge obtained during the course. An organisation called Community Support Association Nepal, a partner organisation of Plan, offered me a job as a facilitator.

I’m now in my second year of working with disabled people, helping them to obtain their own rights. I also look after disabled and marginalised children, their families and their communities. Through the job I advocate for awareness, rights and development and conduct community meetings and training. This is a golden chance for me to share and practice my skills and knowledge with the community for their benefit.

If I had not been involved with Plan since my childhood through sponsorship, I can’t guess what my life would be like. I found Plan to be a guardian who helped take me from a desperate life to a successful one.”