It’s only been a month and half since 60-year-old Manmaya Aangbo, a resident of Papundin in the eastern hill district of Panchthar, started learning to write ka, kha, ga.
“I could already recite the alphabets, now I’m able to write them,” she says. “Can age stop you from learning?”
Aangbo can now write her name and her place of residence. “Only now has my desire to read and write been fulfilled,” she says.
Aangbo intends to be fully literate in the Nepali alphabets. “In the beginning, it was tough even to hold a pen. Writing felt more exhausting than working the land. Now my hands don’t tire while writing. I’m happy that I can write a bit,” she says.
As many as 18 women like Aangbo, all of them above 50, have recently started learning to read and write in a classroom of Papundin Adharbhoot School. Their goal is to be able to read texts in Nepali and to write them.
“It’s fun,” says 59-year-old Gorimaya Aangbo. “But studying is harder than doing household chores. It’s amazing that children study at all. It was a mistake to beat them up when they struggled at school.”
She’s promised herself that she won’t beat her children anymore when they fail to do well in exams.
Bimanata Aangbo, a local resident who has taken on the responsibility of teaching the old women, corroborates their stories. “Yes, they are now used to holding a pen,” she shares.
By BHIM KUMAR BASKOTA, PHIDIM
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