"I was trained as a seamstress as part of the women's workshop, and am now able to provide for myself. I am extremely thankful to ROKPA for this opportunity — I could never have freed myself and my children from a life of misery on my own.

Our family was very poor, there was never enough to eat, and no clothing. My parents thought it unnecessary to send me to school. A marriage was arranged for me very early on. It was a good marriage, and I was very happy. When my baby was two months old, my husband suddenly died. My parents-in-law held me responsible for the death of their son, and drove me and my daughter out.

The only thing I knew how to do back then was knotting carpets, so I traveled to Kathmandu. I took my daughter with me to work. She spent the entire day in a dark, dusty room. Because life is especially difficult for a single mother in our society, I saw no other choice but to accept a marriage proposal from a work colleague. Over the next three years, I bore three daughters. However, my husband did not provide for us, and when he took another wife, I left him. I once again started knotting carpets, but did not know what to do about my children. My elder sister had heard about ROKPA, and said that I should ask them for help.

Now my children are going to school. ROKPA pays their school fees. As for me, I work in the ROKPA women's workshop. Bit by bit, I am starting to forget the bad memories of my former life."

"I was born a deaf-mute at the edge of the Kathmandu Valley. My family lived in a traditional mud-walled house. We were very poor. My father was a tailor — when I was eight he brought me to his shop and taught me his trade. He taught me the only trade I know. Nobody in our village had enough money to send the children to school.

My mother died when I was ten years old. My father married another woman before my mother died. That was when everything changed: From then on, I had to work in the house, but my stepmother was never satisfied. She was always scolding me, hitting me, and saying that I might as well leave the house because I was useless. I saw a chance to escape when an early marriage was arranged for me. I was twelve years old, and my husband about fifteen. I had no idea what was going on. My first daughter was born when I was fifteen. I bore my husband four children, but was treated very badly. It was better for me to live alone than with a brutal, violent man.

After the divorce, I went to beg in Kathmandu without being able to speak to people — I often felt very lonely because of that. One day I plucked up the courage to go to the ROKPA soup kitchen. I had heard that Mummy Lea (Lea Wyler, vice president of ROKPA) helped people like me. I took my oldest daughter with me to be able to speak with Mummy Lea. She was taken in by the ROKPA children's home, where she is learning a trade. After that, I was given a job in the women's workshop, and was able to use the skills that my father had taught me.

Finally, I was no longer alone - my colleagues became my friends. They found a way to communicate with me. They call me the "Master Seamstress", because - thanks to my father's strict way of teaching - I am able to do what I do extremely well, and am therefore a good and experienced worker. I am proud and happy and have finally found joy in life, even though I have a major disability."

(Radika communicates through her daughter Anju or through a friend who understands her sign language)