Kathmandu, Nepal (AP) – Susila Gautam, 77, checks out her smartwatch, a gift from her son who lives in the US to see if he should leave for reading and writing lessons.
“At home, when my son and stepdaughter go to work and my grandchild is at school, I get bored. She says with a smile.
When Shusila was young, the girls from her village were not sent to school.
For about a year, she has been seeking free lessons near her home on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, at Ujaro Community Learning Centre. The center was established by local councils three years ago to provide basic education to women like her.
“Now I finally have a chance,” Susila says.
She can now read signs in English and Nepali, check heart rate with a smartwatch and use her smartphone. But the skill she is most proud of is her ability to sign her name on official documents. Previously, she had to put thumbprints in.
Vimala Maharjan Bhandari, who runs the centre, says that it was difficult to convince women to join at first.
“We had to let people know that being able to read phone messages, product labels and signature documents could benefit the whole family,” says Bhandari.
By slowly and quietly endurance, she was able to persuade the woman and her family. The centre identified more than 200 women in its first three years.
The woman follows the instructor and sits at her desk reading aloud from a Nepali textbook. Some people write down simple sentences in their notebooks. During the break, they leave the classroom to play soccer on a small hard court.
Bhandari believes that the centre will encourage friendship and physical well-being among learners and create a supportive environment for personal and collective growth.
Among the older students is Thuli Thapa Magar, 88. He spent his life as a housewife. She, like Shushira, was illiterate before not going to school and attending the centre.
She is proud of the fact that she is finally learning.
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