Story 5: My Happiness
Sita B.K (changed name) is living at Bheri municipality ward no 1, Rawat Gaun at Jajarkot district. She was born in 2038 BS. She has a father named Dumbar Bhahadur Sarki and mother Suntali Sarki at Surkhet district. Sita is now 41 years old. She is the eldest daughter of the family. Sita was straightforward. Her childhood had spent very happily. In the year 2063, Dal Bahadur Vishwakarma, a resident of Bheri Municipality 1, Rawat Village, Jajarkot District, met and fell in love with him and got married . Time passed and after about 3 years of marriage, she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter who was her first child. She was very happy with her marital life. When she gave birth to a second daughter, her happiness faded away. The reason was that from the day her daughter was born, she started howling a lot. Sita told that “the society, which does not see a daughter as a child, makes difficult for mother role and also as a housewife.”
She got married due to the family’s economic condition. After marriage her husband and family member gave her a lot of torture and was beaten due to giving birth to a daughter. Sita became pregnant for the third time and gave birth to a son, after which the radiance of her face changed. As if the lost thing had been found, the burden of pain that was being experienced lastly began to bring happiness in her life. Her husband also started to love her more and more that the wounds of pain in her heart were drying up. The financial condition of the house was not good. A family member of 10 to 12, with no land except a small house with 4 rooms was a situation where it was impossible to wake up in the morning without any daily wages. Sita’s family went to India to earn money and fulfill their family basic needs. Their family lived there by doing daily wages. Later she told that her family was very happy, but that happiness did not last for long.
Sita lose her vision power of both eyes in 2076 and was totally blind. The children were small and husband used to work for others. She takes care of little children. There was no such thing as strange place, strange people, support and help even though three years passed like that. Life went on regardless of the pain and happiness. One day in the month of Shravan in the year 2079, her husband suddenly fell ill so he was taken to the hospital for treatment but he couldn’t be saved during the treatment.
After her husband death, she was very sad and was in heavy pain. Those happy moments that were shared, even though they were little, were scattered like pieces, and the bright days turned into dark nights.
After returning from India to Nepal Sita went to the ward office to get a single woman’s identity card but she faced many obstacles. Sometimes some documents were not received and sometimes they were returned as nothing was received. Even after 2-3 months later, her identity card couldn’t be made due to confusion as to which one would make disability card or single woman. During this confusion, when the CPSW (Community Psychosocial Counseling Center) visit Sita’s community, at the same time she shared her all obstacle and experiences of her life. During that time Sita was fighting with mental and physical stress. Sita received emotional support as well as first aid services. She said that her heart was lightened and taught her a basis for living. She told that “I am so happy for getting a single women card and connect on to get social security allowance for a single woman. She thanked for the coordination and cooperation of the ward president and ward secretary who has helped her to have her own self-identity.