Aarati Baniya
2020 LEADer
Aarati loves facing new challenges, understanding herself better, and exploring new things each and every day. She considers herself privileged enough to have her rights and access to opportunities but understands that most people do not. This is why she wants to devote her life to realizing a world of equality, equity, justice and most importantly: happiness.
Agrata Parajuli
2020 LEADer
Agrata, a high school law student, is passionate about international relations, diplomacy, and issues related to women. From a very young age, she disliked the way women were treated and because she comes from a family with a legal background, she had the perfect environment to ponder and pontificate on such issues.
She wants to uproot the patriarchal mindsets that are so deeply entrenched in our society. To facilitate this, she believes mindsets should be open to addressing issues pragmatically. She believes that empowering women is the means to achieve gender equality, where both males and females are provided with equal opportunity, responsibility, and respect. She aims to build a world where women and men support each other to bring out the best in each other.
Alisa Kunwar
2020 LEADer
Alisa is currently studying law at Kathmandu Model College and as a woman, she is horrified by gender-based violence cases, specifically, acid attacks. Under the guise of modernization, she believes that her society is still rooted in concepts of gender-based violence and acid attacks. She wants to challenge and root such ideas from society through awareness programs, working with like-minded organizations, and through motivational and empowering programs. She believes that women need to unite and raise their voices to end gender-based violence!
Anchhisa Nalbo Limbu
2020 LEADer
Anchhisa is a Class 12 student at St Mary’s High School. She believes that quality education should be of utmost priority and teachers should be trained well. She believes that educational systems have focused more on profit making rather than providing good education. She says that apart from the quality of education, rising educational prices have also created a barrier to education for indigeneous groups. These groups should be given the time, opportunity and support to access educational services and progress both economically and socially. To facilitate this, employment opportunities, scholarships, awareness campaigns in rural areas should be conducted effectively. She wants to see more people of her community in all facets of society and not just on Gurkha enlistment or foreign employment lists.
Anjali Thapa
2020 LEADer
Anjali is currently studying management at Prasadi Academy. She thinks that stereotypes are a big problem in our society because it dictates people’s lives. Stereotypes affect many individuals who have a different opinion or choose differently but are made to feel ashamed because of societal stereotypes. She says that as the new generation, we should be aware of these stereotypes and actively start working against them. Raising and spreading awareness is the most important thing we can do but we should also teach people the way of reacting to instances of stereotyping. As we all know change starts with you, so be the first to bring change.
Chandraa Kumari Pandey
2020 LEADer
Chandraa is currently pursuing law in Class 12. Chandraa is really passionate about providing support to children, especially from the area of her birth. She comes from Dadeldhura which is a remote place without a whole lot of development, she wants to start her transformational journey from there. She wants children to get basic education, health care, food and shelter. Besides that, she would like to bring positive changes wherever and however she can.
Dawa Lamo Tamang
2020 LEADer
Dawa is from the Sindhupalchok district and has grown up witnessing horrific instances of caste-based discrimination. In her village, she says, there are three castes: B.K., Tamang, and Yolmo. Upper-class families like Tamang and Yolmo always discriminate against lower-caste families like B.K. This does not sit well with her since all B.K.s have been respectful and friendly towards her, on a personal level, disobeying her parents, she sat with them, ate with them and treated them as friends. This, she says, is one of the biggest social injustices of our society and she wants to spread awareness and advocate on the issue while dreaming of a society where everyone is treated equally.
Diya Maharjan
2020 LEADer
Diya is a Sagittarius who loves poetry; both written and spoken. She is a part of many fandoms and also has an interest in theatre and books. She says that while Nepal has been modernizing, she still sees various forms of discrimination inside the valley itself. While progressive urban centers were still reeling under various forms of gender-based discrimination, she empathized with women in rural communities where these ideas are still foreign. She wants to educate rural women so that they don’t need a man for their identity and worth, organize various programmes relating to self identity while helping them reflect on the part they play within their families and the contributions they make for their communities. She also wants to economically uplift them by providing employment opportunities and provide for their families on their own. She wants to encourage them to send their daughters to school and would love to contribute towards building some. She believes that if all women come together, change can definitely happen.
Diyashree K.C.
2020 LEADer
Diyashree considers herself a fairly optimistic person who gladly accepts constructive criticism while grabbing every opportunity that comes her way. She believes that Nepal suffers from a slew of complex problems like poverty, hunger, unemployment, corruption, illiteracy, gender-based discrimination. She blames the country’s political instability for these problems, emphasising the massive corruption that takes place in the Nepali government. She says the current generation needs to be politically active and aware about their rights. They also need to be strong advocates for not just their own rights but the rights of others as well. As a citizen of Nepal, she wants to fulfill her part by participating in youth-led protests, bringing awareness among young citizens while acting as a watchdog against the government’s monopolistic politics.
Erena Karki
2020 LEADer
From Thaiba, Lalitpur, Erena dreams of becoming a social worker. She has been studying at St. Mary’s School for the past 11 years. She gets really ticked off when people question a woman’s right to dress as she chooses. She believes that women have grown to be stronger through self-respect and dignity. She gets frustrated when a society that champions women empowerment points fingers and judges a girl for wearing clothes they deem “provocative”. It becomes an even bigger problem when societal evils against women are blamed on the victim for their fashion sense rather than the perpetrator. Erena emphasizes that women shouldn’t be stopped or restricted from wearing the kind of dresses they want to wear, but rather their safety should be ensured on a societal and judiciary level.
Kishudha Pariyar
2020 LEADer
Kishudha considers herself an ambivert. She is against many problems in her community but the issues of caste-based discrimination, mental health, and body positivity are the ones that bother her the most. Through Women LEAD, she wants to create awareness amongst the youth about these issues. She has seen many people struggle with anxiety and depression and she believes that it is high time that conversations around mental health issues are normalized. She believes that these mental health issues stem from an overall negative body image for both girls and boys. Her solution to the problem is to talk about body positivity and create a space for open dialogue around body image. Caste-based discrimination is another prominent issue that is very personal to Sujita. The recent murder of six Dalit youth in Rukkum not only stood testament to the pervasiveness of the issue but pulled deeply at Sujata’s heartstings since belongs to the same caste. She wants to be the voice for her people and find ways to solve caste-based discrimination, once and for all.
Kriti Subedi
2020 LEADer
Bhaktapur’s Shrijana Nagar based Kriti despises stereotypes and backbiting. She says that stereotyping and backbiting have affected her life in different ways which is why she wants to work to abolish both. She says that stereotyping on the basis of gender, color, race etc. has become a bane on our society and the over-generalized belief about a particular category of people has only simplified their life struggles. In order to stop people from stereotyping, she wants to make people aware about the consequences of stereotyping through social media.
Backbiting, on the other hand, is another serious issue that has had a huge impact on youth mental health. To combat this problem, Kriti wishes to discourage this practice by actively speaking against it when it happens in front of her.
Lakshina Bajracharya
2020 LEADer
Lakshina, from St. Mary’s High School, is most passionate about women’s rights and empowerment. She wants to see young writers and artists provided with a platform for their artistic expressions. She wants to bring positive changes in the way young women are educated in Nepal. She also wants to see the government take positive steps towards women’s economic liberation through training in handicrafts, handmade gifts, eco-friendly products and household decision making. She wants to continue monitoring the plans and strategies made by the Government and aspires to work with the United Nations for amendments.
Laxana Joshi
2020 LEADer
Laxana is passionate about working for women’s safety. Although living in a modern world, she thinks that women are still unable to protect themselves from violence. She understands that teaching young women to defend themselves would take a lot of time, but she wants to start by taking community surveys, conducting awareness programs and self-defense workshops at schools.
Nura Rai Khawas
2020 LEADer
Nura is a determined seventeen-year-old close to completing her high school. She finds people fascinating and she loves to listen to their ideas. This is how she believes she can improve herself. Although Nura used to be introverted, her desire to improve herself and her communication skills has led her to participate in a lot of different programs.
She lives by the adage: life starts at the end of your comfort zone, which is why she loves putting herself in different situations so that she can learn from them, becoming stronger, smarter and knowledgeable.
Prerana Paswan
2020 LEADer
Seventeen-year-old Prerana studies at Trinity International College and looks up to her brother as her role model. She is concerned about violence against women including practices like child marriage, rape, gender inequality, acid attacks. She has seen women limited to household activities and parenting in her community and even though they crave freedom, they are inhibited by societal pressure. She says that true change can only come from the government and remains hopeful that proper laws and their implementation can help overcome these issues. She believes that awareness programs to help educate girls about possible violence will go a long way in helping minimize victims. She wants to start from her own community by setting up workshops to teach women self-defense while also running economic empowerment campaigns.
Prerana Pakhrin Tamang
2020 LEADer
Prerana comes from Panch Pokhari Thangpal and is currently studying in Class 12 at V.S. Niketan College. She dreams of a future without child labour or child marriage. She says that the elders in her community still lack awareness about the importance of education which is why they expect their children to gain forgein employment and send back remittances. This breaks her heart and she wants to fight these social evils by running awareness programs on the importance of education in the 21st century and the heavy consequences of child labor and child marriage. She also wants to sponsor the education of students from economically weak families.
Puspa Khadka
2020 LEADer
Growing up, Puspa learned just how patriarchal Nepali society was and how deeply ingrained it was. She has seen rural girls discouraged from pursuing higher education and young women subject to early marriages and sexual violence. She believes that there are societal barriers that keep women from realizing their full potential. Pushpa believes that it is very important to change societal perspectives towards women. She wants to urge people to stand together and support each other’s strengths, skills and weaknesses.
Rebika Bishwokarma
2020 LEADer
From Lalitpur’s Imadol, Rebika studies in AVM High School. She wants to eradicate racism from the world and detests people who judge people on the basis of their skin. She believes that it is tough to find solutions for global issues individually. Therefore, she says her first step would be awareness. She thinks people are educated but not aware of such issues. She believes everyone should know the value of their life. Life matters!
Sadikshya Nepal
2020 LEADer
Sadikshya was born and raised in Kathmandu and she is currently studying law at Uniglobe College while also learning music at Shree Sangeet Pathshala. She aims to be a strong and successful person in life but as a woman, her success is limited because of the gender pay gap. To tackle this issue, she says strict policies on women’s rights need to be drafted. She says women should also be given the resources to empower themselves while knowing about their legal rights.
Sajina Kalikoti
2020 LEADer
Hailing from Parsa, Sajina currently studies at DAV college. She thinks culture and tradition are those things that bring us together and we should be able to celebrate our culture with full of happiness and joy. Culture and tradition is the one which teaches us to be a good person. So, she suggests we stop humiliating each other’s culture.
Sarmila Pariyar
2020 LEADer
Sarmila is from Dhading and is currently studying computer science at Canvas International College and aims to be a software engineer. Since childhood she has been fascinated by technology and really enjoys learning about new technologies. She wonders why the treatment among people still varies based on their class heirarchy, color, caste etc. She feels that despite the growing education, awareness and constitution laws, people are still drawn back by old practices and unacceptable behavior which has led to an increase in the gap among one another. Many crimes that take place in rural areas due to the caste system and various communities facing it is one of the major concerns for her. Along with many other problems particularly faced by women, Sarmila is ridiculed by the idea of witch hunts prevailing in the rural communities of Nepal where women terribly suffer and are beaten to death. She wants to take a step and eradicate this problem from the Nepali society.
Sneha Karki
2020 LEADer
Sneha is currently studying Management in Prasadi Academy. She is concerned about Bullying. She says that bullying is now recognized as a wide-spread and usually neglected problem in our schools and colleges and also in our community. A bullying culture can develop in any context in which humans interact with each other. This may include school, family, the workplace, the home, and neighborhoods. The main platform for bullying in contemporary culture is on social media websites. Both victims of bullying and the bullies need help. We must help the victims immediately and not sweep the issue under the rug. Yet, we must also get help for the bullies who need behavior management therapy – rather than expulsion. And yes, there does need to be consequences for a bully’s behavior.
Sonal Gurung
2020 LEADer
Sonal is passionate about women empowerment, supporting Nepalese brands, addressing “uncomfortable” topics and mental health. She describes herself as a weeb, a food fanatic, a metalhead and a casual dabbler in the arts. Her main motive for joining Women LEAD is to help her take the next step and be fully informed and immersed into making the change that she wants to see in this world. She hopes to leave this course as a better version of herself.
Subika Chaudhari
2020 LEADer
Subika is originally from the Dang valley. Explaining about herself in a sentence, she would like to define herself as: “A girl who never stops smiling.” Talking about her passions, she is passionate about dancing and going on food hunts. She aims to be a successful person so that people will be inspired. The issue that she is most passionate about right now is body shaming. She believes that people shouldn’t be judged on the way they look and wants everyone to know that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. The goal should be to have a healthy body and loving yourself!
Sujita Chaudhary
2020 LEADer
Sujita Chaudhary is from Chitwan but is currently residing in Kathmandu for her higher studies. Though she might come across as a short-tempered person, she is soft-hearted once you get to know her. She wants to bring change in her society by changing the way it functions and helping disadvantaged communities.
Thuli Tamang
2020 LEADer
Thuli is from Sindhupalchowk district. She likes to play with younger children and her hobbies revolve around reading novels, stories, poems and traveling to new places. Thuli loves listening to her grandparent’s stories and making new friends. According to Thuli, the lack of education is one of the major problems faced by her village. She wants to contribute to the education sector of her village. There is only one school in her village and the number of students is even lesser. Girls’ education is not prioritized in Thuli’s village and gender-based discrimination is deep-rooted. The teachers in her village are not very qualified and trained, she states that “I am here today, that’s all because of my hard work”. Thuli is hopeful that one day she can eradicate restrictions posed on girl’s education. She wants to let everyone know that education is the most important in our lives and the key to success. She wants to set an example to all the people of her village that girls are capable enough. Thuli hopes for a day when people in her village will gladly support girls’ education.
Urmila Rajbanshi
2020 LEADer
झापाकी उर्मिला राजवंशी काठमाडौँ उपत्यकामा जन्मिएकी र हुर्किएकी हून । उनलाई सानो देखि कसैको लागि केही गर्न सके हुन्थ्यो जस्तो लाग्थ्यो । कसरि अरुलाई सहयोग गर्न सकिन्छ भनेर सोच थियिन तर त्यस सन्दर्भमा कुनै कुरा थाहा थिएन । उनले आफ्ना साथीहरुलाई उनिहरुको परिवारले धेरै भेदभाव गरेको देखेकी छिन् । छोरालाई धेरै सुबिधाहरु छ, छोरीहरुलाई कम। जस्तै छोरालाई विद्यालयमा पठाउने , छोरीलाई घरको काम गर्न पर्छ भनेर काममा मात्र सीमित राखने। छोरा जहा गए पनि केही नभन्ने , छोरी कतै गयो भने नाना थरीको कुरा गर्ने जस्तो बिचारहरुलाई अन्त्य गर्न चाहन छिन् । उनको अनुसार यो भेदभाव हटाउन हरेक ठाउँमा गएर यस सम्बन्धी सूचना प्रचार गर्न सकिन्छ , छोरीहरुको लागि विभिन्न कार्यक्रम सन्चालन गर्ने र उनिहरुको मनोबल बढाउने कार्यक्रम आयोजना गर्न सकिन्छ । छोरिहरुलाई आवाज उठाउन पर्छ भन्ने कुरामा साहस दिनुपर्छ भन्ने उनको धारणा छ।
