Suntali Thami, a resident of Tripurasundari Rural Municipality-2, has become a role model in her community. Sixth among the nine siblings in her family, Suntali's childhood was marked with hardships and poverty because the family was large and means for livelihood very limited. So she could not go to school for she had to do the family chores and farm work.
At 15, she was married off. Soon she was pregnant and had a baby to take care of. Yet, Suntali had this desire to do something on her own and support her family financially. She participated in different social activities and was actively involved in women and saving groups. Somehow, she was able to build a small house of her own in 2014. To pay back the house loan, her husband left for foreign employment. Suntali lived alone, with her child.
Then came 2015, when the earthquakes ravaged the community and the house built with so much effort collapsed on the ground. To pay back the loan, she started to work as a labourer. She had to rebuild her house too. Male members were hard to be found in the village for male youths had all left for foreign employment. She decided to take up the construction work but community people began to say 'mason must be men.' But Suntali would not give up. She decided that she would learn masonry and become a skilled mason herself.
Suntali got an opportunity to participate in seven days of mason training conducted by Gramin Mahila Srijanshil Pariwar. She performed very well in the training. The motivation and support from the participants enhanced her confidence.
Again, it was very difficult to prove herself as a skilled mason in the community. But she was confident about her skill.
Finally, she proved herself in the community. Due to the technical and practical knowledge gained from the training, she began to assist male masons in the community too. She has completed several houses so far. Other women of the community look up to Suntali, who has become the source of inspiration for them. They want to become skilled masons like her.
Kiran Thami, the resident of her community says "Suntali has inspired us all with her hard work and dedication. She has become the role model of the community."