Dear Friends,
Happy Holidays! As we approach the end of 2024, I am thrilled to share that the Samaanta Foundation family continues to grow and thrive. We are in the 13th year of our program and have welcomed our largest and most diverse cohort of 17 new Fellows, taking our total to 70 active Fellowships this year.
From transformative and impactful community service projects that address local-level challenges to inspiring stories of personal growth, our Fellows and Alumni continue to transform their lives and their communities. Their journeys provide testimony to the power of education, mentorship, and opportunity; none of this would be possible without your unwavering support!
The Samaanta family at the 13th Cohort Orientation
Paying it Forward: Impactful Community Service Projects
At Samaanta, paying it forward is at the heart of what we do. We are conscious that our Fellowship effectively ‘removes’ Fellows from their communities, so we encourage them to serve and give back to their communities on an ongoing basis each year. This year, working in groups, they carried out 18 meaningful projects across 9 districts, impacting over 550 people.
From raising awareness on ‘Cybersecurity and Mental Health’ to addressing issues like ‘Social Media Dependency among Adolescents’ and ‘Environmental Conservation’, their projects helped tackle pressing local challenges.
The Community Project team of Lamjung with students from Shree Padini Sanskrit Secondary School
One highlight was at Shree Padini Sanskriti Secondary School in Lamjung, by Deepa, Dipisha, Bipana and Roshna. The team conducted a survey in the school and found out that personal hygiene was a critical issue for the students. They then designed a session on Health, Hygiene and Ethical Values tailored to the children’s needs.
Getting to the school wasn’t easy – they had to walk 4 hours uphill from the nearest transportation. Once there, they found that the school’s remote location often left it out of reach for external programs and resources. It made their project really impactful. Their session inspired immediate action among the students: washing hands before and after meals, proper brushing techniques, and keeping their environment clean were some tangible impacts of their work.
Through this program, the team realised that students lack basic necessities like toothbrushes and slippers. They have committed to sending these essential supplies back to the school as the next phase of the project.
This is just one example of the many powerful community projects led by our Fellows, each a testament to their dedication, resilience, and the ripple effect of Samaanta’s values of service and leadership, as well as paying it forward.
Celebrating our Advocates of Change: Dipisha and Dhiraj
Dhiraj and Dipisha during the annual hiking event at Samaanta
Dipisha and Dhiraj are two Fellows from our 11th Cohort whose resilience and determination are deeply inspiring. Their stories remind us of the transformative power of education and demonstrate that it is not the lack of ability, but the lack of opportunity, that limits the potential of fantastic students from underserved communities.
Dipisha: An Advocate for Justice
Family struggles and domestic violence forced Dipisha to drop out of school for four years during her primary schooling. She eventually rejoined in 6th grade, but she couldn’t read or write. Despite the odds, she refused to give up. Every time she felt like quitting, she pushed herself harder. She excelled in her qualifying 10th-grade exams and earned her place as a Samaanta Fellow. With our support, she thrived not just in her academics but also grew to become a leader through several engagements such as Women Lead and Aakar Nepal during High School. She worked tirelessly to prepare for law entrance exams and has received a coveted placement to pursue Law, becoming our second Fellow in this sector.
Her drive stems from witnessing her mother’s experiences with domestic violence. “My mother’s struggles still linger in my mind”, she shares. “Realizing I am on my path to providing justice to women like her inspires me to do more”. Dipisha’s story is a testament to the power of persistence and determination in the face of adversity.
Dhiraj: Leading Change in the Community
Dhiraj grew up watching his father fight to protect their land from road construction in Parsa. He endured weeks of violent community clashes and almost dropped out of school in grade 9. Witnessing the struggles of his family and the absence of someone to advocate for them inspired him to become a lawyer.
Now, as his family faces the financial strain of his elder sister’s upcoming marriage and the expectations of a motorcycle as dowry from the to-be-groom’s family, Dhiraj refuses to stay silent. He speaks out against these social ills and wants to dismantle the norms that hold his community back.
Despite these challenges, Dhiraj has held on to his dream and worked tirelessly to eventually get enrolled in a law degree. Today, as the first in his community to pursue law, he carries the hopes of his family in his pursuit of equality and justice.
Anjana: A journey of growth and impact
We are delighted to share that Fellows from the 5th and the 6th Cohorts have graduated with their Bachelor’s degree this year, taking our total graduates to 14. The employment rate among our graduates is currently at 100%, and they have been meaningfully contributing to several sectors like public health, NGOs, IT industry, education, research institutions, finance and more, both in Nepal and abroad.
A special shoutout goes to our new Program Associate Anjana Nagarkoti, one of our 6th Cohort Fellows, who graduated this year with a Bachelor’s in Arts. She majored in Social Work and Rural Development from Thames International College, one of our steadfast educational partners!
Anjana in the middle with Akhilesh (Program Officer) and Yukta (Strategy and Partnership Officer)
Anjana is bringing her firsthand experience as a longstanding Fellow to her new role. From a shy Fellow who joined the Foundation in 2017 to a confident senior Fellow and a member of staff, she plays an important role in shaping our program and supporting the current Fellows. She has also grown as a leader in her community, encouraging students to pursue their academic careers and conducting several workshops to enhance learning.
Anjana’s journey also brings to life the model we have been developing at Samaanta, where Fellows first support each other within their cohort. They then take on mentoring relationships with newer Fellows as they get inducted into the Fellowship. Even after graduating, most Fellows remain engaged as active alumni. Each year, one of our graduating Fellows then takes on a formal role as a staff member, establishing a cyclical, supportive environment through which our Fellows give back to and lead the Foundation.
Anjana’s story exemplifies Samaanta’s mission in action: empowering individuals to prosper and give back. We are immensely proud of her growth and the positive impact she is making on her community and the lives of our Fellows.
Our ambitions
We are now planning to expand the Fellowship to 25 Fellows in each intake in the upcoming years. This will lead to 50 active High School Fellows at any given time, alongside about 70 Fellows across four years of their Bachelor’s degrees.
We also want to be intentional about our expansion, targeting historically underrepresented areas and communities from where we have not been able to recruit in past years. In particular, we are hoping to widen our reach with Muslim girls and students with disabilities.
Although we are a comprehensive Fellowship, there is room for us to further deepen the Fellowship by conducting more training and workshops, equipping each Fellow with a laptop, celebrating their successes more visibly, and organizing educational visits to provide better opportunities in levelling the playing field for our Fellows.
We are also looking to invest in our systems and processes to improve the user journey for our Fellows and to maximise their impact.
None of this would have been possible without your support and we are truly grateful for your belief in our mission. Thank you for being an integral part of this journey alongside us.
Happy Holidays!
On behalf of the entire Samaanta Foundation family, Shrochis Karki Executive Director Samaanta Foundation