Sundaraijal Children's Home

My life is going better now because I live in Sundaraijal Children’s Home, because Mr. Ram Hari helped me and gave me a new chance in life. I was a street child for 4 years, from the age of 8 to 12 years old. I used to collect plastic and carton in dirty places to earn some money. My father drank too much alcohol and my parents, both of them working in a dumping, were always fighting with each other. They didn’t take care of me at all and I had no contact with them. Because of that I stepped out of their life and started to live on the streets. Life there was very hard, you need to get your own money, food and place to sleep. A few days after I ran away, I saw street children who was begging for money, that's when I started to beg too. After some time those same children taught me to sniff glue, smoke cigarettes and to rob.

Those four years in the street make my hands and feet cracked because of the cold and the dirt. Nobody knew me, nobody took care of me, it was very difficult to survive by myself. During that period many people beat me just to rob my money or food. I had to look for a place to sleep every day, again and again. I used to sleep somewhere beside the compound in Boudha, where I was more protected against the weather, the other people and against animals like rats and dogs. After a while I was addicted to alcohol, dene, glue and cigarettes. I was in a hospital because of these problems and I was suffering from high fever and cold. I feel so happy now. I have no problems anymore: I don’t smoke, my health is better than before, I go to school, I have enough food and clothes to wear and I like very much the people who take care of me. They help me solve all my problems, and now I have the chance to be a child again. I will study very hard and I want to become a teacher and help poor children to have a better life.

Ashok is not a little boy any more, he is 15 , and already in class 8 and his marks are really good, making him one of the best of his class. His best subjects are grammar, nepali, english and math.

But not everything is about school in his life. One of his favorites hobbies is to dance, from hindi or nepali music to break dance and pop songs, this boy is a really good dancer, and because of this the last year he won the award of best dancer of his school. Ashok also likes teaching the other children some of his movements and helps them preparing choreographies whenever they have a show. Dancing is one of his skills, but he also loves playing guitar, flute and singing, that's why he is always trying to be part of the programs or shows that the school or other children homes of the area are preparing

Sports are also part of his life, so whenever he have the chance he plays football with the other boys from the house or volleyball

What respect to his future he still have to finish school, but when you talk with him about his future he sees himself as a social worker, because he wants to help other children like him to have an opportunity in life.