Anuradha Koirala (Nepal’s Mother Teresa)

Anuradha Koirala, the Mother Teresa of Nepal, is the pioneer Maiti Nepal. Maiti Nepal has  rescued over 18000 girls or women from sex trafficking. Inspired by Mother Teresa, she always wanted to serve people. At first, she became a teacher in Kathmandu. But two decades later, she decided to rescue women and girls from exploitation, trafficking and abuse. In 2015 TEDx Talk, she recalled a story of her morning walks past the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu in the early 1990's. She would regularly encounter women begging on the street. After the conversation with them, she came to know that they had been victims of some type of gender-based violence. The conversation touched her because she was too familiar with their pain. She also used to suffer the same pain from her ex-husband. She decided to change her career as a result of her personal experience. Koirala soon began educating the women about the violence based on gender. She raised voice for the empowerment of women. And, she offered help for the women who were were begging in the streets. At first, eight women agreed and she provided them 1000 rupees each to start small street shops. She would collect 2 rupees each from them daily from their profits in order to provide opportunity to other women in need.

Maiti Nepal:

After some time, Anuradha Koirala founded the non-profit organization Maiti Nepal in 1993. It has served exploited women and children for the last 26 years. Now, Maiti Nepal serves 1000 children. Moreover, it has made three three prevention homes to identify at-risk girls and educate them. Maiti Nepal also runs 11 transit homes to provide shelters for rescued girls. It also has started two hospices that treat women and children infected with HIV/AIDS and a formal school. Maiti Nepal and local governing bodies, in collaberation, regularly conducts rescue operations and patrols 26 points on the Nepal-India border as an effort to stop trafficking. Koirala is widely recognized for her great deeds. She has been awarded with many awards including Padma Shree and CNN Hero of the Year 2010.