For the past 28 years, Fulmaya Podeni has devoted her life to sweeping the dusty streets of Kathmandu. 

Born and raised in Makwanpur, she came to Kathmandu at the age of 20 to make a living in the city. With some help from her new peers, she was able to land a sweeper’s job. 

Today, every morning, the 48-year-old travels from Swayambhu to Bhotahiti, where her work starts. She sweeps the main road leading from Bhotahiti to Bhadrakali. 

Becoming a cleaner was not what Podeni had envisioned for herself. But without any education or other skill, she had few other options. 

Even as a kid, she wanted to be educated but her family wouldn’t allow her to go to school. 

“I was a girl so I was given the household responsibility while the boys in the family were sent to school,” she says. 

Nevertheless, she was determined to one day make her own living. It was this determination, she says, that brought her to Kathmandu. 

But life in the city was not what she had imagined it to be. And the job she took on was not just difficult, people also considered it undignified.      

“They saw me as a filth rather than a working woman,” she says. Even her own friends and family looked down upon her for being a sweeper. 

Podeni was 22 when she got married to a fresh army recruit. She became a mother a year later. As her husband was mostly away for work, it was her responsibility to raise the baby, a girl. At the time, she lived with her brother-in-law and his family. 

“It was the most difficult time of my life,” she says.

With a newborn slung on her back, she used to walk to work every single day. “It was more a necessity than a choice,” she says with a tinge of sadness on her face. 

“I had to keep my daughter with me even if my work meant exposing her to dust and dirt. There were no one to look after her,” she says. 

Back in those days, she says, her work was much more demanding as there were so few sweepers. 

“Working hours were long and besides the sweeping duty, we also had to load collected garbage onto trucks,” Podeni says. 

What little she made during those days she had to hand it over to her brother-in-law in return for renting out his place. 

“Yes, I had to struggle at work. But more than that I regretted not being able to look after my first child well, to bring her up in a healthy environment,” she says. Comparably, her second and third child had much better childhoods. 

One thing Podeni is most proud of is sending all her three children to school. She takes joy in knowing that they will have a better life than hers. 

“I was not allowed to go to school, and it felt terrible. I was thus determined to educate all my children,” she says. 

Podeni has long moved out of her brother-in-law’s and rented her own place. She is at more peace today, she says. 

She likes to think that her days of struggle are finally over. 

Her husband has retired from the Nepal Army and works as a taxi driver. 

Podeni still goes to work every morning, but the workload is much lighter. After the Covid-19 pandemic, she only has one long day a week. 

“I finally get to spend some quality time with my family as I am no longer tired from working,” she says. 

Podeni has also learned to accept her work. She doesn’t care about what others think of her so long as her children look up to her—and they do. 

“Remembering the struggles I went through tears me up,” she says. “But then I look at my children and I cheer up instantly.”