I am Powerful

By Saraswoti Puri, Anita Thapa, Jamuna Karki, Pasang Sherpa, Dolma Sherpa, Salina Basnet, Furwa Sherpa, Muna Tamang at our partner The Small World in Nepal

In every breath, a spark ignites,
within my soul, where power alights.
Through trials faced and battles won,
I stand resilient, a force begun.

In every word, a thunderous roar,
Echoes of strength, forevermore
with courage, coursing through my veins,
I conquer fears, break free from chains.

In every step, a quake beneath.
As mountains move with my belief.
I am the architect of destiny’s flight,
Guiding my path with unwavering might

In every heartbeat, a symphony, 
of resilience, of possibility.
For in my being power resides,
A force unstoppable, where dreams collide. 

I am powerful, a force untamed,
infinite potential, never to be tamed.
With every breath, every pulse, every stride,
I am powerful, I shall never hide.

The Joy of Learning

Author: Aliza Puri, She’s the First Youth Ambassador

My grandmother learnt the first letter at 65
I remember her strive
To write her name
Thinking about how signing her name instead of thumb prints
Would be a changed game
For her.
I remember her eye beaming with pride
As she tried
To remember the letter and what they look like
And what they sound like
And I couldn't be happier for her.

My mom was married off in 9th grade.
The exchange of her education with household responsibility was not a fair trade.
Reading and writing Nepali is no big deal
But English is the real deal.
My mother can't understand my English poems
But she will still watch the whole video
And it has become a norm
For her to ask me for a translation
"K vaneko yo video ma Aliza?"
What are you saying in this video, Aliza?
But she is learning and even though she doesn't like to believe
At the age of 50 she is growing.
She is learning to read English
The words probably sound rubbish to her
She recently learnt to post her comments in social media
And she needs no body's help
Sometimes she may comment
"Beuteful" instead of "beautiful"
Under my picture
But I know what she meant
And I am proud of her

For me,
I love learning Maths and Sciences,
I love to read poems and stories in Nepali and english
I am amazed by learning how our body works in perfect coordination
How the systems in the earth work
And how this universe work
Thanks to the education that I have received

I learnt about the stars and sky
And the ants and fly
and moons and sun
and our heart and our brain
and men and women
and the rock and mountain
and the river and sea
and also about you and me.

But I also learnt that maybe you aren't as blessed as me.
And that makes me feel a little bit guilty
I feel greedy
For not being able to share everything that I have learnt so far
I feel angry
That sometimes those who can
Choose not to.

I hope someday,
All of us would learn about this amazing world, and our amazing body,
And amazing people in this world.
I hope one day,
All of us would learn and grow
Not just academically
But also as person
We will learn to be kinder and braver
And world would really be this amazing place
That I believe it is.

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the Global Action Week for Education.

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Aliza Puri, 20, is a She's the First Youth Ambassador (and co-creator of the Power of Poetry campaign!). Currently studying medicine in Nepal, Aliza has been involved with She's the First since she was a student at our graduated partner Kopila Valley School! Aliza sees poetry as a creative outlet for her activism. Read her poem, "Dear World," a letter to the world from every girl who has been abused, who finds it hard to come forward and ask for justice because she is too scared and embarrassed—until she decides to fight for herself.

The Ultimate She’s the First Poem

Deepa is an student attending Kopila Valley in Surkhet, Nepal. She was diagnosed with Lupus, a kidney disease, and so she hopes to one day become a nephrologist in order to help others with the same health issues.

In the meantime, Deepa loves to cook and to write poetry — and when the She’s the First team visited her in Nepal, she performed this beautiful poem.

“I wrote this poem because I wanted to tell the story about girls in Nepal and how they grow up here,” says Deepa. “It is about how they suppress their feelings. I wrote this because it relates to kids at Kopila [STF’s partner school in Nepal]. I wrote this about all girls in Nepal, because I have seen these bad things happen to them. People think girls are not strong, they can’t do anything in their life, they should just cut grass. They think it is a waste of money to spend on [girls’] education. It is important; girls need to be educated. If girls go to school, then the whole country will be educated and Nepal’s development will change. Girls are strong enough to handle their lives and make their own decisions.”

Follow the text of Deepa’s poem below— and share!

She’s the First
By Deepa N.

I am a girl.
A girl in Nepal, in the beautiful mountains.
The sun is on the horizon.
I’m getting older and with the passing of time I start to feel like the world is set against me. I am a girl on the side of a river bed breaking stones
Morning to dusk washing dishes and clothes
Working, earning, in someone else’s home, in the fields, in a city hotel
Sleeping gin the alley between the big buildings, under a piece of plastic,
or in a mud house.
Somehow I feel like I’m falling.

I am a girl.
I begin to dream.
I want to be a doctor, an engineer, a pilot, a teacher
I am told that I’m a girl who can’t get an education, knowledge, and opportunities.
I’ll have to get married and go to my husband’s house.
Spending on my education would be a waste of money.
So I work, in the kitchen,
in the fields like all the women who came before me. I am a girl.
I sleep in the cow shed, outside on the floor, in the cold, on a pile of hay
With the animals.
I can’t touch anything or do certain things for 5 days of the month,
because I’m suffering from something that I can’t control
When I have my period.

I am a girl, turning into a young woman.
I have feelings that I never had before.
Everyone says it’s time for me to get married.
There are rules according to my caste,
my age, my family, my wealth. But what about me? Why didn’t anybody ask me if I
was ready? I feel too young. I don’t feel mature. Is this for society to decide?But what about when society took innocent and illiterate girls to be trafficked, sold and forced to become a prostitute in a brothel?
But what about that sati pratha when society forced women to jump in the fire where their dead husband burned?
Who decided it was okay for so many women to live in fear in their own homes of fathers, brothers and husbands?*

I dig my feelings deep into the depths of my heart.
Dear mother I cannot breathe, in this tradition somewhere in between rich and poor, somewhere in between higher and lower castes,
somewhere between discrimination,
is me.
A girl.
Let this all pass.
Let’s bring a change and make this a new Nepal, a new world.
Let’s make our failures the beginnings for the path to success.

I am a girl and I cannot suppress my feelings. I will not spoil my life. I will not
ignore my opportunities waiting in front of me like a new day.
I am going to defeat this.

The sun is on the horizon and I’m dreaming but I’m awake.
I am a girl but not a failure. Not anymore.
I am a girl and I am better than you think,
sturdier than I look, smarter than you know, braver than I show and stronger than you believe.

I am a girl.
I will be the first.
To go to school. To get an education. To have chances.
To love and express my love.
The earth will not be destroyed by me making my own decisions.
I can be like Miss Maggie Doyne or Florence Nightingale or Mother Theresa
or Ghandi or whatever I want. I will not stumble.
I’m going to shake up the world from the corners,
and light up the sky with my laugh.
And instead of breaking rocks I am going to rock the world.
I’ll wash away old traditions while I wash dishes and clothes,
and when I plant in the fields, I’ll plant a new future, a new path. One of equality.
I will be the first.

The sun is on the horizon and the day has come.
I woke up and realized the world was behind me. Fighting for me. Cheering for me. Set up for me to thrive and succeed.
This is a place where I will leave my mark.
And when I’ve done everything I needed to do, they will say,
She was the first.

*a stanza that Deepa added to the poem in April 2016

(photo by Kate Lord)

If you would like to support the mentorship and education of girls like Deepa, please visit shesthefirst.org/donate.