Feeding Program Participant, Bhakt Isn’t Backing Down

Bhakt isn’t a run-of-the-mill kid. Sure, there are some predictable things about him. He forgets to do his homework, he loves his little sister, and he likes to help his dad out with small chores around their house in Nepal.

But Bhakt also wants to be a singer when he grows up, and he’s serious about it. He’s writing songs and practicing every day.

That tenacity doesn’t come from nowhere. Bhakt’s life has not been easy, and he learned how to work through struggle from a very young age.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever seen my parent’s deal with was when both my father and mother went overseas for employment,” he says. “I felt very bad and thought, ‘Why did my father and mother struggle so hard to help me?’”

Thankfully, his father came back. His mother, though, did not. 

After his mother abandoned their family, Bhakt was distraught. “Seeing all my life, I feel like I could cry. But I never give up because giving-up is like drinking poison.”

Bhakt and his family stayed together during that trying time. His father remarried, and Bhakt soon had a new baby sister to enjoy. “Though my own mother left me and my father, I was so excited when my little sister was born in our family.”

His father also made sure to keep Bhakt in school. But that wasn’t an easy choice, either. “I have to walk one and half hours to reach school,” says Bhakt. “It feels difficult sometimes, but now it’s [a] habit for me.”

Because not only does Bhakt receive an education and a social support system through his school, he also receives regular meals from Convoy of Hope.

“I want to thank all of you who have supported us in the feeding program,” he says. “The food we get in the feeding program is very tasty and healthy. Before, many of my friends used to drop their class during lunch break because of hunger. But now school dropping has stopped because of [the] feeding program.”

Bhakt knows firsthand that life isn’t easy. But he also knows that, with a little bit of hope, he doesn’t have to back down from his dreams.

“Everyone around me encouraged me when my mother left. So, I just want to tell everyone [to] never give up in your life.”