Recently we celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who came to give new life to us all, and bring freedom to people from poverty, hunger, injustice, discrimination and exploitation. This reminds me of those I met in my recent trip to Nepal. There I met many of the “one of those leasts” that we are called to serve.
LAXMI THOKAR
I met Laxmi Thokar in her small tea and Momo shop in a local park - near Hetauda in Makhwanpur District. Like many others in this region, she was born into a poor family. Her parents put her to a school when she was
six years old. Due to financial problems, however, Laxmi had to leave school to help her parents with household chores and work as an agricultural laborer to earn wages to help support the family. When she was eighteen, her parents found her a boy to marry and within four years, she was also the mother to three children. Laxmi was diagnosed with tuberculosis when she went to see a local doctor for her fever. Within a few days of this tragic news, her husband disappeared and later divorced her. Having no other alternative, Laxmi moved to her parents’ home with her three children and worked odd jobs to help support her parents and providing food for the entire family.
For the last several years, Laxmi has been associated with Center for Community Development in Nepal (CCDN), a local NGO and ELCA partner. As Laxmi showed great interest in the nutrition program, CCDN gave her an opportunity to become a nutrition volunteer with a small amount of money for her travel and food allowance. She attended several courses on nutrition and ultimately became a key person in bringing health-related messages to her community.
Laxmi saved some money and set up her tea and Momo shop in a small local park and increased her income. Now she is able to feed her family and send her two children to school.
I was happy to see that CCDN was able to reach “one of these leasts”
GOMA PANDIT
I met Goma when I went to visit Shanti Nepal, a local NGO and ELCA partner in Gajuri, Dhading district. Goma works as an office help - cleaning, cooking, and taking care of other errands. She has four children. Deepa-12, Dipesh-9 and two six year old twin sons Dijen and Dipendra. She sent her nine-year-old son Dipesh to an orphanage in a local town and lives with the other three at home.
Goma’s husband borrowed money to start a business from a local rich man. Unfortunately, his dream to start a business never materialized. In the meantime, his loan became a burden as it multiplied into a huge amount that he could never pay back. Therefore, he found the easy solution and took poison to end his life. In addition, Goma was left behind with a responsibility of taking care of four children, her mother-in-law and a huge debt. She started selling water bottles in a local bus stand to earn about a dollar a day to feed her family.
One day, one of the Shanti Nepal employees came to know her situation and asked her to come to the office. They hired her to work as an office helper, which has much more dignity and safety. However, her struggle to find ways to overcome her difficulties in paying off the huge debt her husband left her and to feed the family and educate her children continues.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
At breakfast the morning after I arrived in Dhading, Goma served Chapatis (kind of an Indian wheat bread) and curried beans . As a special guest, she also served a boiled egg only for me. As I was eating, I noticed Goma’s son Dijen sitting in a corner of the kitchen staring at me as if he was counting every peace of bread I was putting in my mouth. I asked Goma if he ate anything this morning but she did not answer. Instead, Mr. Sharma, the person in charge of Shanti Nepal office, answered for her saying that Dijen would eat later.
I had a feeling Goma and Dijen were waiting till we are done and eat the leftover (if there were any). I had three Chapatis on my plate, more than what I needed, so I ate one and stopped. I asked Goma to give the rest to Dijen and sat there to watch. Dijen ate those two in no time, looked at his mother and as
ked if he could get one more. Goma looked around a little and gave him the third one she had saved for herself.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
In the afternoon when I was leaving from Dhading, I asked Goma if I could take a picture of her and Dijen. She agreed with a nice smile. The picture to the right is of her and her children.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
MAN KUMARI
Man Kumari lives in the bank of a river in Hudgikhola with five children. Her husband disappeared from home for an unknown reason several years ago, leaving all five children for Man Kumari to take care. Her oldest daughter Sarita, 15, works in a local restaurant and attends school in sixth grade.
Man Kumari, inspired by Shanti Nepal, an ELCA partner, enrolled herself in school in the fifth grade. She participated in income generating training offered by Shanti Nepal. In addition, she joined the cooperative and saved money. She took a loan to buy goats three years ago. When I visited her small make shift shed, she proudly showed her four goats she has been waiting to sell.
She told us that often she is subject to harassment by the local officials for occupying government property and threaten her to evict for her small house she lives with her minor children. I had to cross a river when I went to visit her. She helped me by pulling heavy boulders to make sure that my shoes and clothes do not get wet. She put her school uniform when I wanted to take a picture.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
WOMAN WITH HER DAUGHTER
While I was on my way to Mankumari’s house, I saw a women walking through the river with a small child on her back. I asked where she was going. She said her daughter has fever from last night and she is taking her to a nearby heath post. She looked very tired and exhausted. I asked how far she walked. She said she walked for three hours through hills and rivers to come to that spot because there were no other health facilities available anywhere nearby. Later, I visited the health post as Shanti Nepal provides medical supplies to this health post and saw the women waiting with her child to get her turn to see a paramedics.
I saw "one of those leasts!"
From this particular trip to Nepal and meeting many of these leasts, I have seen the true face of resilience and humility. Perhaps, people like Goma, Man Kumari, Laxmi and the women carrying her child on her back for minimum medical care, have the most to teach me and the rest of this broken world that Jesus came to this world to save all of us by sacrificing his own life on the cross.
As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, let us remember that He called us to serve our neighbors and “one of those leasts!”
I met Laxmi Thokar in her small tea and Momo shop in a local park - near Hetauda in Makhwanpur District. Like many others in this region, she was born into a poor family. Her parents put her to a school when she was
six years old. Due to financial problems, however, Laxmi had to leave school to help her parents with household chores and work as an agricultural laborer to earn wages to help support the family. When she was eighteen, her parents found her a boy to marry and within four years, she was also the mother to three children. Laxmi was diagnosed with tuberculosis when she went to see a local doctor for her fever. Within a few days of this tragic news, her husband disappeared and later divorced her. Having no other alternative, Laxmi moved to her parents’ home with her three children and worked odd jobs to help support her parents and providing food for the entire family.For the last several years, Laxmi has been associated with Center for Community Development in Nepal (CCDN), a local NGO and ELCA partner. As Laxmi showed great interest in the nutrition program, CCDN gave her an opportunity to become a nutrition volunteer with a small amount of money for her travel and food allowance. She attended several courses on nutrition and ultimately became a key person in bringing health-related messages to her community.
Laxmi saved some money and set up her tea and Momo shop in a small local park and increased her income. Now she is able to feed her family and send her two children to school.
I was happy to see that CCDN was able to reach “one of these leasts”
GOMA PANDIT
I met Goma when I went to visit Shanti Nepal, a local NGO and ELCA partner in Gajuri, Dhading district. Goma works as an office help - cleaning, cooking, and taking care of other errands. She has four children. Deepa-12, Dipesh-9 and two six year old twin sons Dijen and Dipendra. She sent her nine-year-old son Dipesh to an orphanage in a local town and lives with the other three at home.
Goma’s husband borrowed money to start a business from a local rich man. Unfortunately, his dream to start a business never materialized. In the meantime, his loan became a burden as it multiplied into a huge amount that he could never pay back. Therefore, he found the easy solution and took poison to end his life. In addition, Goma was left behind with a responsibility of taking care of four children, her mother-in-law and a huge debt. She started selling water bottles in a local bus stand to earn about a dollar a day to feed her family.
One day, one of the Shanti Nepal employees came to know her situation and asked her to come to the office. They hired her to work as an office helper, which has much more dignity and safety. However, her struggle to find ways to overcome her difficulties in paying off the huge debt her husband left her and to feed the family and educate her children continues.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
At breakfast the morning after I arrived in Dhading, Goma served Chapatis (kind of an Indian wheat bread) and curried beans . As a special guest, she also served a boiled egg only for me. As I was eating, I noticed Goma’s son Dijen sitting in a corner of the kitchen staring at me as if he was counting every peace of bread I was putting in my mouth. I asked Goma if he ate anything this morning but she did not answer. Instead, Mr. Sharma, the person in charge of Shanti Nepal office, answered for her saying that Dijen would eat later.
I had a feeling Goma and Dijen were waiting till we are done and eat the leftover (if there were any). I had three Chapatis on my plate, more than what I needed, so I ate one and stopped. I asked Goma to give the rest to Dijen and sat there to watch. Dijen ate those two in no time, looked at his mother and as
ked if he could get one more. Goma looked around a little and gave him the third one she had saved for herself.I saw “one of those leasts!”
In the afternoon when I was leaving from Dhading, I asked Goma if I could take a picture of her and Dijen. She agreed with a nice smile. The picture to the right is of her and her children.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
MAN KUMARI
Man Kumari lives in the bank of a river in Hudgikhola with five children. Her husband disappeared from home for an unknown reason several years ago, leaving all five children for Man Kumari to take care. Her oldest daughter Sarita, 15, works in a local restaurant and attends school in sixth grade.
Man Kumari, inspired by Shanti Nepal, an ELCA partner, enrolled herself in school in the fifth grade. She participated in income generating training offered by Shanti Nepal. In addition, she joined the cooperative and saved money. She took a loan to buy goats three years ago. When I visited her small make shift shed, she proudly showed her four goats she has been waiting to sell.She told us that often she is subject to harassment by the local officials for occupying government property and threaten her to evict for her small house she lives with her minor children. I had to cross a river when I went to visit her. She helped me by pulling heavy boulders to make sure that my shoes and clothes do not get wet. She put her school uniform when I wanted to take a picture.
I saw “one of those leasts!”
WOMAN WITH HER DAUGHTER
While I was on my way to Mankumari’s house, I saw a women walking through the river with a small child on her back. I asked where she was going. She said her daughter has fever from last night and she is taking her to a nearby heath post. She looked very tired and exhausted. I asked how far she walked. She said she walked for three hours through hills and rivers to come to that spot because there were no other health facilities available anywhere nearby. Later, I visited the health post as Shanti Nepal provides medical supplies to this health post and saw the women waiting with her child to get her turn to see a paramedics.I saw "one of those leasts!"
From this particular trip to Nepal and meeting many of these leasts, I have seen the true face of resilience and humility. Perhaps, people like Goma, Man Kumari, Laxmi and the women carrying her child on her back for minimum medical care, have the most to teach me and the rest of this broken world that Jesus came to this world to save all of us by sacrificing his own life on the cross.
As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, let us remember that He called us to serve our neighbors and “one of those leasts!”
May God bless us all and give us the widom and courage to face the challenges ahead of us at these difficult times around the world.
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