Nepali woman's quest to learn takes her back to school with son

Nepali woman's quest to learn takes her back to school with son

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A Nepali mother of two, Parwati Sunar finds herself attending the same school as her son after returning to an education system she fled at the age of 15, when she eloped with a man seven years her senior.

"I enjoy learning and am proud to attend with classmates who are like my own children," Sunar told Reuters from her village of Punarbas on the southwestern edge of the Himalayan nation, where she studies in seventh grade.

Just about 57% of women are literate in the country of 29 million, and the 27-year-old Sunar said she hoped to become "literate enough" to be able to keep household accounts.

"I think I should not have left my school," she said, explaining the desire to catch up on the lessons she missed, having had her first child at 16.

. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Parwati Sunar, 27, and her son Resham Sunar, 11, walk to school.

"I feel good to go to school with mum," said her son, Resham, 11, who is a grade behind his mother, spends lunch breaks with her and rides pillion as she bicycles to computer classes they attend at an institute nearby.

"We chat as we walk to school and we learn from our conversation," he said, adding that his mother hoped he could become a doctor.

As a student, Sunar was below average, but a keen learner, said Bharat Basnet, the principal of the village school, Jeevan Jyoti.

. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Parwati talks to her son Resham during a computer class at the New World Vision Computer Institute in Punarbas.

Her day begins at dawn in a tin-roofed two-room structure of bare bricks shared with sons Resham and Arjun and her mother-in-law, with their goats penned into one area. Their home lacks a toilet, so the family use a nearby plot of public land instead.

Their daily routine involves bathing in water drawn from a handpump outside their home, working in the verdant fields around it, and even making cakes for birthdays that a smiling Resham celebrates with a hibiscus flower tucked above one ear. Sunar's husband works as a labourer in the southern Indian city of Chennai in order to support his family.

. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Parwati and her son Resham ride a bicycle to their computer class at New World Vision Computer Institute.

They belong to the Dalit community, formerly known as untouchables, on the lowest rungs of the Hindu caste system, but Sunar said the family faced no ill-treatment over this.

"No one discriminates against me or my family," she said.

After a simple meal of rice and lentils, Sunar puts on the school uniform of light blue blouse and skirt with a striped tie before taking the 20-minute walk with her son to the school, also a tin-roofed structure, surrounded by trees.

. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Parwati (C) helps her eldest son, Resham (R) to wash, as her younger son Arjun Sunar, 7, (L) draws water from a hand pump, at their home.

It was fun to be in the same class with Sunar, said Bijay B.K., one of her classmates, aged 14.

"Didi is pleasant," he said, using the Nepali term for an elder sister. "I help her in studies and she helps me too."

Sunar's efforts could inspire village women thirsty to learn beyond their domestic horizons in Nepal, where they still face discrimination and child marriage is widespread, even though illegal.

Before & After

Before
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
After
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Before: Parwati (C) and her sons, Resham (L) and Arjun, (R) pose for a picture before getting dressed for school, outside their house.
After: Parwati (C) and her sons, Resham (L) and Arjun, (R) pose for a picture after getting dressed for school, outside their house.

"She is doing a good job," said one of her neighbours, Shruti Sunar, who is in the school's 10th grade, though not a relative. "I think others should follow her and go to school."

Enrolment of girls in basic education, or grades 1 to 8, is 94.4%, official data shows, but Krishna Thapa, president of the Federation of Community Schools, said nearly half dropped out for reasons ranging from lack of text-books to poverty.

. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Parwati reacts while playing a game with her classmates at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

"Schools lack infrastructure, such as toilets for girls," Thapa added. "Most girls drop out during their period because there are no toilets."

But Sunar, who gave up a job as a housemaid in neighbouring India to return to her studies, said she was determined to finish the 12th grade.

"This is the thinking now," she added. "What lies ahead, I don’t know."

(Picture Editing: Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson; Additional Reporting: Navesh Chitrakar and Yubaraj Sharma; Text Editing: Clarence Fernandez; Layout: Kezia Levitas)

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Slideshow

Parwati walks next to her son Resham (R) as they head towards Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati walks next to her son Resham (R) as they head towards Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

Parwati (R) sits next to her son Resham as they share a meal during lunch break at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati (R) sits next to her son Resham as they share a meal during lunch break at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

Parwati (C) speaks with her classmates during a class at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati (C) speaks with her classmates during a class at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

Parwati calls to check on her son, Resham, after he went home unwell.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati calls to check on her son, Resham, after he went home unwell.

Parwati checks on her son, Resham, who is suffering from fever, after arriving home from school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati checks on her son, Resham, who is suffering from fever, after arriving home from school.

Parwati (R) and her sons, Resham (L) and Arjun (C) get ready for school outside their house.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati (R) and her sons, Resham (L) and Arjun (C) get ready for school outside their house.

Resham (4th from L) stands in a queue with his friends for lunch, at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Resham (4th from L) stands in a queue with his friends for lunch, at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

Bharat Basnet, (R) principal of Jeevan Jyoti secondary school, sits at his desk.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Bharat Basnet, (R) principal of Jeevan Jyoti secondary school, sits at his desk.

Navraj Ojha, a maths teacher, helps  Parwati (2nd from R) during a class at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Navraj Ojha, a maths teacher, helps Parwati (2nd from R) during a class at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

A paper boat floats on a puddle outside a classroom at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

A paper boat floats on a puddle outside a classroom at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school.

Yam Bahadur Sunar, 34, a migrant worker who works as a labourer in the Indian city of Chennai to support his family, video calls with his wife Parwati.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Yam Bahadur Sunar, 34, a migrant worker who works as a labourer in the Indian city of Chennai to support his family, video calls with his wife Parwati.

Parwati (C) offers a homemade cake made of wheat flour, sugar, and milk to her son, Resham, (L) during his birthday.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati (C) offers a homemade cake made of wheat flour, sugar, and milk to her son, Resham, (L) during his birthday.

Parwati hangs foliage for her goats.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati hangs foliage for her goats.

A toilet pan is hung on a tree behind Parwati’s house.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

A toilet pan is hung on a tree behind Parwati’s house.

Parwati works in a field outside her house.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati works in a field outside her house.

Parwati works on homework with her sons, Resham (R) and Arjun (C).
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati works on homework with her sons, Resham (R) and Arjun (C).

Parwati sits on the porch of her two room tin-roofed house late in the evening.
. Kanchanpur, Nepal. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

Parwati sits on the porch of her two room tin-roofed house late in the evening.