The Magic of Letters | This I Believe Project on NPR from Nepal

Flikr photo by thetravellinged used under a Creative Commons license. The Magic of Letters is the story of how an adult literacy class changed one woman’s life, written in her own words.  Not uncommon to rural Nepal, Chameli Waiba was a child bride at age 15, poor and illiterate, abandoned by her husband.  She lacked the basic skills to survive as a woman on her own.  Through a literacy class at age 21, Chameli learned how to read and write.  With these new skills, Chameli became an activist and role model for empowering other women.  Looking back, written in her own words, Chameli remarks:

Before learning how to write, my life was like the nearby Indrasarovar Lake, always stagnant. I had the pain of child marriage, my husband did not support me, abject poverty was my way of life and I didn't have any skill or courage to do anything. But I saw that the number of people learning to read and write was growing — and their lives were improving. I then realized it was neither wealth nor beauty that I lacked, but letters.

Chameli’s story was broadcast on NPR (read in English) and recorded in Kathmandu through the This I Believe Project.