Q: Do you work for a living? What do you do?

Yes, I have a shop with a restaurant.

Q: How many hours per week do you work? How many days per week do you work?

I work 105 hours per week (15 hours per day i.e. 6am to 9pm, 7 days per week).

Q: How much do you make per month?

I make Rs. 15,000 (US$214.30) per month which means Rs. 500 (US$7.14) per day

Q: How many people live in your household? How are they related to you?

There are altogether six members in my family consisting of father, wife, son and one daughter.

Q: How many children do you have? How old are they? What are their names?

I have three children. My oldest son Deepak is 19, daughter Anju is 17 and my youngest son Ghanashyam is 16 years of age.

Q: Do all your children go to school? Why do they all go to school?

Yes all of them have gone to school because education is very important to move ahead in life. They need to be educated in order to be first survived and second to get a respectable job in a big organization.

Deepak is in college now. He is studying Intermediate level of Science. Anju has just completed her SLC (Student Leaving Certificate; the Nepali equivalent to a high school diploma) and is waiting for the results to come out; then she will be joining college too. (She is not a Room to Read scholarship girl). Ghanashyam is still in school. He is currently studying in grade 10 in Shree Ganesh Secondary School, Bhaktapur.

Q: Did you go to school? How many years?

Yes, up to 10 grade (SLC).

Q: Do your children help with the household chores/work?

Yes they do. They help me look after the shop, cattle, poultry and my daughter helps her mother in the kitchen.

Q: Do you like your children going to school?

Yes I do. That is why I have given much important for their education

Q: What do you dream that they will do when they get older?

I always dream my sons serving the Nepali people and the country and I'd like my daughter to become a nurse.

Q: What time do you wake up?

I normally get up at 5 am in the morning.

Q: What time do you start work? What time do you finish work?

I usually start my work at 6 am in the morning and I finish by 9 pm.

Q: What time do you or your spouse cook dinner? What do you eat?

My wife cooks dinner at 6:30 pm in the evening. We eat dinner at around half past eight. We usually eat rice, vegetables, pickles with occasional goat meat or chicken.

Q: Do your children talk to you about what they learnt in school?

Yes they do. Sometimes I also inquire with them about what they did in school. Although I do not have a good education, I try to share my experiences with them, and we also discuss on various school issues.

Q: What time do you go to bed?

Around 10:30 after spending some time watching TV.

Q: What do you think of the library provided by Room to read at your children's school?

I think they have done a great job for the school, and the students. I feel Room to Read has also helped to all the parents like us who can't afford to buy costly books to our children that are necessary to gain knowledge.

For a complete development of a child, he/she has to read all kinds of books besides the course related books such as general knowledge, politics, geography, history, storybooks, novels, poems etc. In that respect Room to Read has done a great favor to us by providing our children with different varieties of books. I would like to thank and congratulate R2R for doing a wonderful job.

Q: Are you proud of the work your community did to build the school? How long do you think it will last?

Yes, I m proud that community helped to build the school. It will be beneficial to all the students including my children. I think it will last for generations to come with the supervision and guidance of the government, our community and outside organizations like Room to Read.