A Slave Girl Turned National Hero Joins High School in Pursuit of Higher Education · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

Screenshot of Shanta Chaudhary, Former Constituent Assembly Member, in an interview with Nepali journalist Dil Busan Pathak on the talk-show Tough Talk on News 24 Television.
It is a perfect story for a Bollywood film — a slave girl fights through poverty, reaches the Constituent Assembly of Nepal, pens an award-winning book, struggles against cancer and becomes the pride of her community.
Shanta Chaudhary was 8 when her parents sold her for $75 to scrub, cook, sweep 19 hours a day in #Nepal. http://t.co/3PsN2rKvQm #Kamalari
— Heather Marsh (@GeorgieBC) June 5, 2013
Now Shanta Chaudhary, a woman with indomitable spirit, is again in the news. She has joined the eighth grade of a local school in pursuit of higher education. While her son is studying in the ninth grade and her daughter in the seventh grade at a boarding school in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, she has chosen a government school in her village.
Ex-lawmaker Shanta Chaudhary, who headed parliament committee on natural resources for 4 yrs, enrolled in grade 8 pic.twitter.com/WD3kpeMwKD
— Thira L. Bhusal (@ThiraLalBhusal) June 10, 2015
Chaudhary, an activist and a leader with the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist-Leninist, has gone from Kamlari to national hero.
Kamlaris
Kamlaris are young girls, belonging to the Indigenous Tharu community, who are kept as slaves by the rich living in Western Nepal.
Though slavery has been banned in Nepal, these girls are made to work day and night, lead a life of suffering, endure physical and sexual abuse and even get  murdered in mysterious circumstances at times.
Kamlaris get little or no money in return of their service. According to some estimates, several thousand girls still work as Kamlaris in Nepalese cities, including Kathmandu.
Although the government outlawed the Kamlari system in 2013, this has not stopped people keeping Kamlaris.
Below is the story of three girls who were rescued from slavery and are now activists in a movement to end the Kamlari system in practice:
PHOTOS: From slavery to freedom – Women freed from the #Kamalari slave system in #Nepal. http://t.co/cBkQAvPtP8 pic.twitter.com/H54VPvU6Jh
— Because I am a Girl (@biaagcanada) March 27, 2015
Like other Kamlari girls, Shanta faced attempted abuse from men and had to get married to save herself.
A story worth reading
Kamlari Dekhi Sabhasadsamma (from Kamlari to Constituent Assembly member) is the poignant tale of her journey from discrimination and exploitation as a Kamlari to an inspring figure for her community — a role model for girls enslaved and free.
In the tell-all book, she describes moments that still haunt her:
College student Shreepriya Poudel posts a review of Shanta Chaudhary's autobiography:
People tell me that it is necessary to learn about the lives of the less fortunate because it makes you more grateful for the life you have now. That to me seems like a selfish reason but I decided to stick to it this time. So here is a list, based on Ms. Chaudhary's book, of some of the things that a lot of people don't think about but should be grateful for. Maybe it will help us find better ways to live.
1. A roof over your head that doesn't leak.
2. Access to medicines, even if it is just a paracetamol.
3. A nation where laws are not only made but also implemented.
4. Newspaper, radio or television that ensures that other people cannot make a fool out of you.
5. Not having to go five days straight with nothing to eat.
6. Your paycheck, if you have one that gives you more than a meager seven dollars a year when you work 12 hours a day.
7. The freedom to hug and kiss your child when it cries.
8. The freedom to feed your child when it is hungry.
9. The fact that you did not go to bed on an empty stomach last night.
10. The fact that you haven't lived your entire life within a 50 km radius.
[..]
13. The fact that you have never been sexually abused by someone you cannot speak a word against.
14.Your job that pays you more than 80 cents a day.
[..]
18. Your clothes and the fact that you have more then two sets of them.
19. Your ability to read.
20. The fact that you did not/will not have to wait 7-8 years to buy a new set of clothing for your kids.
Once again, I do not pretend to know what duties one human being has towards another but trying to be as generous as possible seems like a good idea. If this list does not prompt you to reconsider some of your ideas about your personal wealth and privilege, something else will.
Apart from fighting for the rights of Kamlaris and her community, Chaudhary has been battling cancer for the last four years.
Shanta Chaudhary's personal/political struggle a great inspiration! Great to see her fighting spirit facing cancer. http://t.co/D1f9jmVx6h
— Chaukath (@ChaukathNepal) November 4, 2014
And by joining high school, she has renewed her crusade against discrimination and exploitation.