The steadfastness of a long-distance runner

When 11-year-old Asha fled to Kathmandu from her hometown in Rolpa with a friend, her only wish was to earn some money to pay for school. Having lost her mother at a young age and with a father who was not supportive, she knew she would have to fund her own education.

But however attractive the bright lights of Kathmandu may have seemed from remote Rolpa, the reality of the chaotic and fast-paced capital was different.

“One of my friends suggested we work in a brick kiln in Kathmandu like many other families from Rolpa. She said we could earn enough money to pay for school.” And so her yearning for an education drove Asha to begin the back-breaking job hauling bricks on a basket on her back.

Carrying bricks and piling them up in heaps regularly was not just tedious, but also difficult for the young girl. Asha started looking for other options that would at least allow her to study, and it looked like working at a restaurant would be better.

“I washed dishes, cleaned tables, and served the customers all day. I wanted to study but my employers would taunt me for not doing my job properly whenever I tried to make time for my books,” she recalls. For five years, she toiled all day in the restaurant, and read her text books into the night until fatigue lulled her to sleep.

Then one day, some women showed up at the restaurant where she worked. They identified themselves as representatives of a group called Shakti Samuha, a non-profit anti-human trafficking organisation, and recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2013.

“Two women came to the restaurant and asked me if I would like to go with them. I told them I would go if they sent me to school,” recalls Asha. That day marked the beginning of a new phase of her life.

“This organisation has not only provided me education but also given me a new perspective in life,” she says about Shakti Samuha, which was founded by the survivors of human trafficking and has been working to rescue girls and young women, and rehabilitate them.

It stepped up its activities after the 2015 earthquake and the pandemic to counter a spike in trafficking. In 2011 founder and trafficking survivor herself, Charimaya Tamang, received the Hero Acting to End Modern-day Slavery Award from Hilary Clinton.

For the past two years, the shelter has been Asha’s home. Instead of waking up to a row of bricks or a pile of dishes and the feeling of a floor scrub clutched in her palms, she now stretches her legs, running four hours every morning.

The 18-year-old is one of the six athletes selected for the Exchange and Empower program 2021, by the Mira Rai Initiative, a nine-month intensive training for Nepali long-distance runners. Mira Rai is now a household name in Nepal and abroad for her ultra-marathon wins, and for the initiative to give young Nepali women like her the same opportunity to show their athletic spirit.

Asha still has time for her English language lessons and receives counseling to help her transition from a childhood of hardship.

“The women and girls in our organisation have been through difficult times, from sexual exploitation and abuse to life-threatening working conditions. We work to provide them any kind of assistance needed from shelter support, education, skill-developing training to psychological counseling,” says Neera Dulal at Shakti Samhua.

Since it began working with vulnerable women, Shakti Samuha has educated over 1,500 children and sheltered 1,027 survivors of trafficking, supporting them towards financial and emotional stability.

“We provide both educational and extracurricular help so that they have the opportunity to choose what they want to become in the future,” says Dulal. And that was how Asha stumbled upon her newfound passion to run. Now in Grade 7, the course books demand a lot of Asha’s attention, but she makes sure to set aside the time to train to become a runner.

“I have had a difficult childhood. But my passion for sports and the opportunity to go to school has helped me overcome my past traumas,” she says.

As a grantee of the Mira Rai Exchange and Empower Program 2021, which has already helped 10 female athletes in last two years, Asha has found support for marathon training, education, and professional development. “We are very proud to see Asha doing what she loves and excelling at it. It gives us hope for so many others,” says Dulal.

While years of hard labour has given Asha a timid countenance, an inquisitiveness and zeal for learning blaze in her eyes when she speaks.

“There was a time when I could not even write my name or talk to people. I was afraid and did not understand where life would lead me,” she says. “Now, I have people who are supporting me to fulfill my dreams. I think I’m going to keep running.”

Some names have been changed.