Written by: Himani Bhattarai - 24011, Grade X
Posted on: 02 February, 2022
Women are not given much opportunities in Nepal. They are considered to be weak as compared to men. Proving this wrong, many women have stood out in the society doing works that are praiseworthy. Pushpa Basnet is one of them. Pushpa Basnet is a popular name in Nepali society. She was born in Kathmandu. She is a social worker and the founder of the Butterfly Home. It is an organization working under Pushpa Basnet that provides daycare programs to children.
During her childhood days Pushpa was an average student. She has not passed SLC. Due to this her friends and relatives criticized her. They stated that their parents should have invested their money in something else rather than educating their daughter. Their parents still supported her. She continued her studies on social work. She enjoyed helping others and exploring the world rather than studying in a corner. She wanted to live a democratic life. This made her family upset. Once she had visited Sundhara jail for some college work and saw the children in jail. They came along with their parent(s). This shocked her. She was upset knowing the fact that the children had to live in prison for something that was not their fault and had to face consequences for their parent’s deeds. This motivated her to open ECDC. People were shocked to hear her. She was just about 21 years old when she decided to open the organization. Most of the people didn't believe her words. But she did not go back on her words and decided to establish an organization to secure those children’s future and free them from the prison. She established this non profit organization in order to free those innocent children from jail. To make those children’s future bright she decided to take care of the children herself. She was just 21 back then. She had to face many obstacles in the beginning because people didn't believe she could take care of those children all by herself at such a young age. She struggled a lot and finally was able to establish her own organization Butterfly home .
Her work did not go unrecognized. She was awarded with CNN Hero Award in 2012 and CNN Super Hero Award in 2016. Pushpa is an outstanding female. She is a role model for many people including me. She is a very inspirational and brave woman.
