After a trip to the neighboring city of Surkhet — and seeing a solar-powered water system for the first time — Ram was convinced something similar could work where his family lived. He went straight to the local government to form a plan, but they were skeptical and underresourced. His community wasn’t on board, either. “This is in your imagination,” they said.
So Ram set to work. He visited other provinces, took photos of their water systems, and brought them back to show his neighbors. He attended municipality meetings, met with local officials, and navigated a restructured government. He refused to give up.
Eventually, his idea started gaining some traction. But even with the momentum of belief on his side, there was still the issue of money. People — Ram included — were starting to lose hope, until they received a visit from one of our local partners in Nepal, who saw the potential Ram had seen all along: A solar-powered system could bring clean water to their community.
17 years later, Ram’s dream was coming true. And even though he’d already done so much, he immediately raised his hand to help, donating his own land to house the solar panels and serving as the system’s maintenance worker.
