T hat weekend I saw a woman with the same baby and the woven mat with cigarettes. I learned she was the mother of the little 8-year-old girl named Uma. On that day, Uma was “home” doing laundry. In the evenings, Uma tended the baby brother, Bikash, and the cigarette sales while her mother cooked rice for dinner. The father had abandoned the family. Her mother proudly informed me, “Uma goes to school every day and is a good student in the third grade. She does her homework while working!”
Also, on that visit to Nepal, I had met Som, a physical therapist at the hospital. He offered to keep an eye out for Uma and later became instrumental in rescuing Uma and in founding ANSWER.
We fell in love with Uma and began inviting her to our hotel on Saturdays after she finished the laundry. Before returning to the States, Mary Jane decided we would fund Uma’s education at the private school where she was also volunteering. Uma would be sufficiently challenged and could learn English. As the school was an English speaking campus, she was placed back in the first grade. By the end of the first year she skipped a grade, and at the end of the second year she skipped another grade, so by her third she had caught up to where she should be. She was in the fifth grade, speaking fluent English, #1 in her class, and dreaming of being a doctor. Mary Jane and the principal decided to also enroll Bikash, her younger brother, as insurance. Since he was a boy, he would get preferential treatment, and we would make his continued enrollment contingent on Uma’s enrollment.
In 2001, I officially formed ANSWER (American-Nepali Student and Women’s Educational Relief), established a board of directors, and began asking more friends and fellow parishioners at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan if they would sponsor the education of other bright and disadvantaged Nepali students. Som agreed to be the in-country Director of ANSWER-Nepal in exchange for my covering his tuition as he pursued a Master’s degree in Hospital Administration.
In 2002, we learned Uma had a stepfather and was the father of Uma’s two younger brothers. He, too, had abandoned the family, but had now reappeared on the scene and immediately yanked Uma out of school. Uma’s mother was aghast and agreed to make Som the guardian of Uma, and in so doing, he could arrange for Uma to attend an English speaking boarding school behind a high protective wall that kept her step-father out. Uma continued to excel at school. She completed 10th grade, graduated with honors from a 3-year nursing program, and then later from another 3-year nursing program to obtain her Bachelor’s degree. Today Uma is married, working in a hospital in Dubai at 10x her Nepali wage, and plans to return in a few years to help Nepal and raise a family.
While Uma continued to thrive, we put our “roots” down with Uma and sprouted “shoots” as many other students soon followed. ANSWER steadily grew, spreading its branches. In 2007 ANSWER became a 501(c)3 organization. Our initial goal was to support students through Grade 10 (which was when “high school” ended in Nepal). In 2010 we began to expand our support to students through Grades 11 and 12 (college) and technical programs through Grade 13. A few years later, they were doing so well, we extended our support further so they could obtain Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
Uma became the prototype for ANSWER students: extremely disadvantaged, highly motivated, eager to learn, and with a desire to help and serve others. Even today, although our criteria have become more stringent and our screening more detailed, we hold true to these basic qualifications.
When the Rev Bruce Bode, minister at Fountain Street Church, relocated to the First Unitarian Church of Houston, ANSWER expanded into the world of the Unitarian-Universalist Association of Churches, and today we are active in dozens of liberal and progressive churches all across America as well as sponsors in a half dozen countries.
ANSWER students are among the top scholars in Nepal, winning awards and scholarships, graduating from professional programs in Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health, Dentistry, Veterinary medicine, Business, Accounting, Engineering, Social Work and more. We have helped over 1500 students obtain a quality education. ANSWER is a well-respected charity in Nepal and has developed excellent rapport with schools and organizations, often being called upon for help by other non-profits, schools and colleges.
ANSWER exhibits a unique model of self-empowerment and self-sustainability. Our staff in Nepal consists primarily of own students and graduates. They take on the responsibility of the running of ANSWER-Nepal themselves, gaining work experience, becoming self-vested in helping their peers, and allaying all fears of internal corruption. Once they graduate and are earning income, they take on the additional responsibility of “paying it forward” by sponsoring an ANSWER student themselves. All of this derived from a little girl, who was desperate to learn, showed us how to begin!