What is your name? How old are you? What is the name of your village?
- My name is Dahpu Devi. I am 15, from the village of Basni Lachan.
Describe your family: ages, names, etc. What are the challenges and hardships your family has faced?
- I live with my mother and father. I am the last child at home. Everyone else is married. My father drives a truck to make a living. His leg is very bad. It causes him pain and prevents him from having other work. The trouble is that it is stiff; it doesn’t bend at all. This happened after an infection that he had.
What do you like about Veerni?
- Veerni lets me learn to sew. I want to earn my living with sewing.
What makes you happy?
- Studying. And being with my friends. My best friend is Kamla, and with her I have a special friendship. We tell our secrets to each other.
What makes you cry?
- I am very sad when I see that my family needs things and we can’t have them. We don’t have enough food, for instance.
If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?
- I wish I could look after my parents. I am the last daughter and I worry about them a lot. When I marry, I will live with my mother-in-law and won’t be allowed to care for my parents. So I wish that I could do that, or that someone could.
I would like a good job.
I want to study.
What would you like to do in the future?
- I want to work, to earn money.
What is your favorite thing?
- Work. I really want to work.