Vijita is among the very first batch of girls graduating from our Metta School program. It was to insure a future with higher education for Vijita and other girls like her, that led us to start the Peace Grove Program. - Venerable Metteyya
Vijita’s Story
Vijita is among the very first batch of girls graduating from our Metta School program.
Cultural Background
Vijita's family name is Karishma Chaudhary and she comes from the native Tharu tribe (also known as Choudhary). Native Tharus are the original inhabitants of the Nepalese Terai. They were able to survive and thrive in this jungle environment due to their natural immunity to Malaria. Traditionally known for their gentle demeanour and simple life, Tharus were known for farming the land and fishing in wetlands and rivers.
The successful American-supported campaign to eradicate Malaria opened the Terai region for settlers from all over Nepal and India, resulting in clearing of the dense forests and settling of new villages and towns. The Malaria eradication came as a devastating blow to the Tharus. Unable to read and without knowledge of the sophistications of the modern world (ie. land deeds) , Tharu communities were not ready to cope with the changing world. Once the landowners of Terai, they were now considered poor, backward, and expendable by the ruling elite in Kathmandu. Young Tharu girls were enslaved as bonded labour (Kamalari) until the practice was abolished in 2006. Though illegal, in parts of Nepal (predominantly in eastern Nepal) Tharu girls as young as 8 years are still sold by their own families to work as domestic servants in wealthier homes.
Access to education in Tharu communities still remains very scant and girls from Tharu community rarely go for higher education.
Personal Background
As a young girl Vijita wanted to get good education and came to join Peace Grove together with her younger sister Dhammadinna. Vijita has very bubbly personality and is very caring towards her friends at Peace Grove.
Vijita's father is severely alcoholic and doesn’t offer much support in the family. If Vijita hadn't joined Peace Grove, she would have already been married at a much younger age.
The road to become educated was not always easy. In her high school levels Vijita struggled with mental concentration issues and started failing her high school exams. After trying for two years and still not passing, she was distraught. But good intervention from Conni Aunty and supportive encouragement from Bodhi ma and Peace Grove, she started again and ever since has done amazingly well.
Post regular education, Vijita graduated as the very first Clinical Laboratory Technician from Lumbini and is perhaps the first Tharu Girl from the Lumbini region to do so. Right after the completion of her training she recruited a few of her colleagues and ran the very first lab at the 2019 Anatta Health Camp in Kapilavastu. She has since found a job on her own, and has rented her very first apartment in Butwal city (the provincial capital-about 40 kms from Lumbini). We are very pleased to have watched her personality grow from a meek, shy little girl into an educated and confident young lady. She is an inspiration to all other young girls in Lumbini.
