21
Dec
«I was born in Rolwaling valley, a small village that lies in the shadow of the magnificent Mountain Gaurishankar, the holy twin-peaked mountain on the Tibetan border in the year 1993. I was the second child of my parents. We were like a perfect family, my mother, my father, elder sister, me and my brother. But the universe had different plans. We lost our father in one of the expeditions in 1995. My mother at the age of 20 years had two daughters and pregnant during the death of my father. I myself have no guts to imagine what she had gone through at that moment.
Then we came to Kathmandu, a city of hope. It was a new place, a new environment with few known faces. My mother had to work hard to earn little money, however with less money she managed to send my sister, me and my brother to school. Then it was in the year 2001, through my uncle my mother got the chance to meet with Chief Administrative Officer of the Himalayan Trust, Mr. Ang Rita Sherpa who introduced my mother to Benoit Chamoux Foundation, the Foundation that has been helping orphan Sherpa children who has lost their father in the mountain. The Benoit Chamoux Foundation came as a light of hope to my mother who had been struggling herself for the better future of her children. The Foundation took the responsibility to educate me and my brother.
From the small school where I was studying, I was admitted to boarding school where I could get opportunities for everything. The school was Mahendra Bhawan Girl’s Higher Secondary Boarding School, which was among the best old school of that time. I studied there from class 1 to class 8. I still remember my childhood days in the school. The yearly visit of Aunt Fabienne from Benoit Chamoux Foundation with many gifts and taking us to beautiful places of Nepal has also made my childhood awesome. Again with the changing time and for better education I was admitted to Himalayan International Model School (HIMS), the school where English was a major language and the school with more facilities than ever. I completed School Leaving Certificate (S.L.C) from HIMS. Whenever I passed my exams it was always the Foundation that I wanted to show my result than my mother.
After completing HIMS, I got the opportunity to study at Little Angel’s college, one of the prestigious colleges of Nepal. I wonder how persistently the people of the Foundation have been working to always choose better Educational institution for their children. I studied Science for 2 years as it was a pre-requisite to get admitted into any medical school. After finishing college, it was time for me to continue my further studies in University and to choose a study that could be of use for the service of humankind, for that I choose to study Physiotherapy. I was selected to study physiotherapy for Bachelor Degree in Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS), an internationally renowned University of Nepal and also the only college that provide physiotherapy education in Nepal. It was a course of 4 years with 6 months of internship. Within that period of time I also learned to be strong and to develop myself professionally. There were times when studying was not easy but the feeling that there are so many people supporting me has always motivated me to move further.
And now, today I hold my Bachelor’s degree with a determination to do something for the people. After completing my final Degree, the Foundation even provided me the opportunity to visit Switzerland for one month to learn physiotherapy practice in Switzerland hospitals in June 2017. Educational journey would have been just a fantasy for me if Benoit Chamoux foundation had not existed and continuous guidance and support would not have received from the Himalayan Trust Nepal.
Words aren’t enough to describe how grateful I am to the Benoit Chamoux Foundation and the value it holds in my life.»
Mingma Diki Sherpa,
Rolwaling, Dolakha
