Gautam 1

Bhupal Gautam
3408 S 300 E #B-8
Salt Lake City, Utah
bhupalgautam2009@yahoo.com
October 5, 2016

Ronald W Bohannon
Salt Lake Community College
4600 South Redwood Road
Salt Lake City Utah 84123
Dear Bohannon,
To accomplish my civically engaged text, I describe poverty, and its harsh impact on
education in the context of underdeveloped Nepal. Poverty is the symbiotic cycle of lack of
education, whereas education is also the determining parameter of poverty. I propose a single
dollar/day can play a positive role in poverty alleviation and education improvement in Nepal. I
will advocate the role of government, private sector, international society, and organizations to
reduce the poverty and enhance the education as well. Any individuals, organizations, or civic
society interested to donate one dollar/day are my audiences. I am taking up the collection for
Light to Himalaya, a non-profit organization working for child education in remote part of the
Himalayan region in Nepal.
Sincerely,

Bhupal Gautam

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Bhupal Gautam
Ronald W. Bohannon
Salt Lake Community College
English 1010-004
14th December, 2016
One Dollar Can Change Nepals Poverty through Education
Poverty is the inability of having basic necessities. It includes low-income level, inability
to acquire basic goods and services, low level of health, sanitation, education, security, and
human development. Poverty is measured either as absolute or relative. Absolute poverty is such
a state where there is lack of basic human needs such as food, shelter, safe drinking water,
sanitation, education, health and so on, whereas relative poverty is a comparative analysis of
poverty. It is a measurement of income with the national average. The term absolute poverty is
used in developing countries and relative poverty is used to study the poverty in developed
countries.
Mostly developing countries are suffering from absolute poverty. Millions of people in
developing countries are deprived of basic human needs such as food, shelter, health, sanitation,
and education. Nepal is underdeveloped country located in south Asia. The bitter reality of Nepal
is poverty where about 80 percent of Nepalese people live in rural areas and rely on subsistence
farming for their livelihoods. Poverty has been the root cause of many problems in Nepal. It is
the cause of food scarcity, poor nutrition, poor primary health care, unpractical education, unsafe
drinking water, worse sanitation, and many more problems. Due to the vicious circle of poverty,
life is a constant struggle in Nepal.
The poverty cycle is being transferred from generation to generation. Questions may arise
why the country is getting poorer and poorer. It is complex to verify every detail of poverty. It
has great potential of resources, but is still lagging behind the poverty line due to the lack of
resource mobilization and low human development. Demographic factors are also the cause of
poverty. In poor countries, nutritional supplies are below the adequate level for pregnant
mothers. So, offspring would be malnourished causing high infant and child mortality rate.
Primary education in Nepal starts when a child turns six. Many children are deprived of
education and are compelled to do some kind of income generating activities. There is no
provision of pre-primary education. Recently, some of the private schools have started
kindergartens and Montessori for the pre-primary level, but the poor family cannot afford it
because they are expensive. Students who are enrolled in the school are compelled to drop out
because of their household issues which are mostly related to poverty. It is estimated that more
than 30 percent of students drop out before entering tenth grade.
Technology is not affordable in Nepal. Most of the students have no access to a
computer, TV, internet, library and other essential things which are required for students. (I am a
good example of this. I saw TV when I was in grade 8, and saw a computer when I was in grade
12.). How can we expect a good quality education in such a situation? Even if a student
continues school and completes his high school, he has fewer options to go to college because
colleges are expensive and inaccessible for the majority of the students. Medical science,

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engineering, and forestry collages are expensive in Nepal. Only elite families can have access in
such a field of study. Students with great talent, but lack of money have only options to redirect
themselves towards other options such as subsistence farming or overseas employment. Many
students commit suicide when they experience such a situation. Poor children are usually less
healthy, less skilled, and they are socially, emotionally, and physically less competitive to
undertake a school program. Even today, many students in rural areas walk 2-3 hours to get to
the school. They cannot afford any means of transportation-not even a bicycle. Students cannot
afford lunch and snacks due to poverty; they are malnourished and susceptible to different
diseases.
Schools are in vulnerable condition. Infrastructures, access to the teaching-learning
materials, participation of the students, quality of the teacher, and other basic components are in
poor condition. In many places, classes are taken under the open sky due to the lack of class
rooms. In some places, there are schools but no students. Problems are not only in students, it is
equally in teachers because they are not well-paid and trained. Even if the input is defective, how
can we expect perfection in output? Students dont have warm jackets in the winter, how do they
overcome the extremely cold temperature of the Himalayas? There is no word to express the real
situation of small kids in such a situation. Poverty, illiteracy, superstitious values, cultures,
traditional thought, and ignorance are equally prevailed in the society. These factors enhance the
poverty and retard the quality of education in a parallel way.
Government has spent huge amount of money on educational improvement and poverty
alleviation programs, but the outcome is close to zero. Most of the money which is attributed to
poverty alleviation and education disappears before reaching the targeted group. The
bureaucracy is corrupted; therefore, the targeted group gets nothing or less things.
Family planning is also the major cause of poverty and the hindrance of education in
Nepal. People give birth indiscriminately and the population is exploding. Government cannot
provide equal resources for the growing population. In some part of the country, teacher-student
ratio is significantly high due to the growing number of students.
How to Make a Difference?
Education is the key to change social evils in society. Education eliminates poverty by
enabling people socially, economically, mentally, and politically. Educated people can get a
well-paying job and can have knowledge of science and technology. An education that
promotes agricultural knowledge, innovation and efficiency, can contribute to increased
productivity in this sector.- (Kulild). An educated person makes a budget, and knows the
advantages education, technology, and family planning as well.
The success of Nepal in reducing poverty and improving education, despite low income,
can be assured by the active role of following:
Government: The role of the government is vital to improve the condition of poverty and
education. Government can apply a progressive income tax system, launch public assistance
programs, conduct different developmental activities, invest huge amounts of money to ensure
sustainable economic growth, create employment opportunities to minimize the unemployment
problem, and so on. If it is ensured, not only the economic aspect, but the educational and other
socio-economic parameters will also be improved at the same time.
Organizations: International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), and NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs) are helping to the poor and backward people in the rural
area of Nepal. Because of the INGOs and NGOs, the rural agriculture and social status has
transformed. They encourage rural people to produce different fruits and vegetables by providing

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seeds, fertilizers, money, and knowledge. They support in animal husbandry, micro business,
health post, and so on. Along with this they actively work on awareness and support campaigns
against social evils, superstitions, such as: caste systems, child marriage, other superstitious
beliefs, and so on. They have been doing something positive for the education and poverty in
Nepal.
Private sectors: Private sector can play a vital role in poverty alleviation and educational
development. World economy is a market economy where the private sector is one of the
essential components of an economy. By investing the capital into an employment generating
sector, the private sector can create substantial employment opportunities which is the panacea of
modern days burning issue (i.e. unemployment). On the other side, private schools are
enhancing the quality of education in Nepal. Every year the position of private school is high in
every board examination. But the governments regulation is essential to keep private sector on
the right track.
International society: Government is the formal body to help other countries either for
poverty alleviation or educational development. Government can help other countries by directly
providing developmental aids to specific areas or by providing technical support in different
targeted areas.
Every individual can make a difference to the poor people in the developing countries
like Nepal. A single US dollar is equivalent to the family income of some of the families in
Nepal. If we consider this fact and contribute a single US dollar for those families, it can
remarkably change different aspects of their life. If our tiny little contribution spreads the smile
on smile-less faces, isnt it a significant contribution to our life? Lets unite and contribute a
single US dollar for the voice of voiceless.
Light to Himalayas is a non-profit organization, supporting to improve the educational
status of children in Himalayan districts of Nepal. The above mentioned scenario is real, and
devastating life of most of the students in Nepal. Anyone, interested to donate a single dollar per
day to portray a line of difference on the countenance of smile-less kids can donate to Light to
Himalayas. I have been personally assisting this organization for three years. If anyone has
interest to donate single dollar per day, I would be more than happy to take up collections.

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Work Cited
"INGOs and NGOs Have Been Making a Lot of Difference in ..." Spotlight News Magazine, 27
Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.
http://www.spotlightnepal.com
Kulild, Villa. "Role of Education in Ending Extreme Poverty -Taking a Global Lead."
NoradDev. N.p., 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.
https://www.norad.no/en/front/about-norad/news/role-of-education-in-ending-extremepoverty--taking-a-global-lead/
"Poverty in Nepal." Canada Foundation for Nepal. Cffn.ca, 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.
http://cffn.ca/about-nepal/