Surya’s Family Finds New Opportunities Through Joni’s House Nepal
Hours outside Kathmandu, Nepal, people living in rural hill districts face widespread poverty. For those living with disability, income, care, and hope for a better future remain chronically out of reach.
This is why our Joni’s House Nepal team has gone out to find families in the hill districts suffering with disability, aiming to identify and meet their critical needs. Among the 420 families now receiving help, Surya’s family has received the vocational training and economic support they so desperately needed…
Surya’s Story
Surya is fifteen years old and has significant intellectual disabilities. He is largely nonverbal but can say “mom,” “dad,” “brother,” and “sister.” Since his early childhood, Surya needs someone with him at all times—to be fed, cleaned, and kept safe.
A few years ago, Surya began to suffer from epilepsy—with up to ten bouts per day.
His father says, “He suddenly falls down. Sometimes he is as good as dead—and sometimes it leaves quickly. Sometimes he suffers for an hour.”
He is unsafe on his own and won’t cry out in pain or ask for food when he’s hungry. His needs have to be anticipated and understood by his caregivers. And while it makes earning income even more difficult, Surya’s parents remain dedicated to their son.
“What shall we do? We can’t abandon him. We love our son,” says his father.
A Heartbreaking Accident
For Surya’s safety, his parents must keep him in a safe enclosed space whenever they can’t immediately attend to him. But a year ago, when he was out, briefly unsupervised, he fell into a fire and severely burned his hands. His father recalls:
“He did not cry—he just came to me and said, ‘Dad.’ I went to get some paste for the burn. I felt very bad. I searched for the medicine the whole day. But my son was in a serious condition. I was carrying the medicine when I found out they had already called an ambulance.”
They took him to the hospital and were told Surya needed to have his burnt fingers amputated. His father asked them to only slightly cut his fingers, because he needs his fingers to hold rice and feed himself. But the amputations turned out to be significant, so that now Surya can’t feed himself rice, and loses a third of his buckwheat-millet porridge, as he can’t hold onto it.
Hope and Opportunity Through Joni and Friends
To help Surya’s family earn the income they need to survive and care for their son, the Joni’s House team has helped the family establish a goat-raising business.
Through Joni’s House, Surya’s family received goats, and the training needed to rear them for income. Our team also provided construction materials and hands-on help to build a shed for the goats. Surya’s parents hope to deposit some of the income earned in an account dedicated to meeting Surya’s long-term needs.
“Thank you very much, Joni’s House,” says Surya’s mother.
“We got much support. Thank you all… As long as there is life, there is hope. Until I die, I will look after him,” says Surya’s father.
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