Gita doesn't feel disabled

A joint project between Plan and the Nepal Association for the Blind (NAB) is supporting children with disabilities from disadvantaged families to access education and overcome discrimination.

For Gita, a bright and active teenager who has been blind since birth, the project offered the chance of a formal education. Because of her disability she did not attend school with her brothers, but she would listen to them read and help them with the answers to their homework.

Gita soon learned the multiplication tables from 1 to 16, and managed the household's financial affairs. She regularly cleaned the house, washed the dishes, fetched water from the well and fed the cattle. She amazed everyone with her capability and independence.

When the NAB heard about Gita's achievements and her desire to study, they arranged for her to stay at a Plan-supported centre in Banke district which provides scholarships for disabled children.

At first, her new life at the hostel presented challenges: "I couldn't understand Nepali, so I had difficulty communicating with others," she says. After a short time she had learned enough to get by, and she embarked on a seven-month course in Braille. Gita also won an award in a sports competition organised at the district level.

Gita is now in the third grade at secondary school, and her family are very happy for her to continue her education and reach her full potential. Of her future ambitions she says, "I like mathematics very much and enjoy doing calculations. I want to be a teacher and teach other people like me.

"I've always felt love and always got care from my family, and it is the same in the hostel too. I never feel discriminated against or weak."