My Hero – Reshma

Reshma is the eldest child of her parents Sita and Rajkumar Balami. They live in a village called Hudu, which lies in the southern hills of Kathmandu, situated 30 miles away from Pharping.

Pharping and surrounding areas have become a hot spot for foreign and domestic tourism due to the location, history, and prominent Buddhist monasteries. Many people migrated to this region after the earthquake of 2015. The population influx led to increased demand for local produce and dairy products. Many local people started opening small shops, selling tea, snacks, and homegrown vegetables and fruits. Reshma’s father also has a small shop where he works to support his family of five. However, the Balami family was experiencing financial strain with the growing family, so they pulled Reshma from the private school and admitted her to the local public school – Setidevi High School in Taluk.

Reshma’s happiest memory was her first Field trip from school to Lumbini. It was the first time she left her home with her friends to see new places, which was exciting and fun and became an unforgettable moment in her life.

Influence of a role model

Reshma admired her aunt Sati Balami, a coordinator for Montessori schools in Pharping. When not many girls and women had been in a leadership position, Sati set an example. To young Reshma, aunt Sati became her role model and inspiration and decided to follow her aunt’s footsteps, becoming a teacher when she grows up.

Reshma was very impressed by the Didi program offered by the foundation. She loved the monthly Didi programs where influential women were invited to share their personal stories of success. Listening to their stories taught our Bahinis a valuable lesson that every successful person had to face hardships and obstacles to achieve the position. Their stories motivated our Bahinis to work hard to achieve success, as success does not come easily.

Reshma fondly remembers the stories of famous national and international personalities like Anuradha Poudel, Pushpa Basnet, Sabita Didi, Shristi KC Didis, and more. Meeting such famous people and listening to their stories inspired her to work hard and do something good for others.

Reshma becomes a Teacher

After finishing her SLC board examination, Reshma took Montessori training and became a teacher for elementary school children at Seti Devi School in Talku.

In the morning, she attended her 11th and 12th grade classes and started teaching during the day. She also helped her mother with her household chores in her free time. For a young girl, taking three different roles in a day seems very stressful, but Reshma took it as a part of her daily routine and performed all her responsibilities well. She is happy to help her family financially.

She teaches her students good behaviors like treating everyone equally with respect, sharing, and caring for one another in school. She loves how they teach children to celebrate Holidays of different cultures to introduce different cultures and customs. She loves making paper arts and decorating the classrooms and teaches her students to draw and paint.

Future plans

Reshma is currently enrolled at Shikharapur College in Pharping to study for Bachelor’s level in Education, majoring in Nepali. Her classes are in the morning so she can continue her teaching job. She plans to get a teaching license and become a teacher in a local school after finishing her B.Ed. Degree. She also wants to teach young people about social programs such as the adverse effects of early marriage, violence against women, and various forms of discrimination. Reshma wants to emphasize that getting an excellent education to empower girls to be independent will help build a better society.

Reshma turned out to be like her aunt Sati who has become a role model for young girls. She realizes her childhood dream of becoming a teacher with hard work and determination. She has been able to identify the emerging variant of child marriage that we all need to address before it becomes a problem.