Nakul

In Nepal, the children of criminals often go to prison with their parent because they have no one else who wants to care for them. That is especially true for a boy whose mother will re-attach to another man who wants nothing to do with his predecessor’s children. Coming from a remote village high in the hills northwest of Kathmandu, Nakul ended up in prison with his father at the ripe age of five. His three years in prison were hardly conducive to healthy development, and it was good when Prison Fellowship Nepal, with his father’s blessing, rescued him and placed him in their children’s home.

Nakul successfully completed his class 10 School Leaving Certificate but was told that he could not study science in grades 11 and 12 because he had not taken an optional math class.

Having joined Foresight for this new phase of his life, he told us of his love for biology, especially human health and medicine. How could he overcome the math hurdle? Well, he did, completing a grade 11-12 science course. He then set his sights on admission into medical school, unlikely as that seemed due to the exorbitant cost and intense competition. His initial attempt at a full scholarship position failed, and he considered the alternative of public health. But it didn’t sit right. It seemed God had placed in him the deep desire to be a physician.

So, he tried again. And two events unexpectedly, perhaps miraculously, came together. First, a man who makes his living brokering admissions into medical school took up Nakul’s case, negotiating a lower fee and an extended payment plan in contrast to the standard upfront payment of over $40,000. Second, a set of Foresight’s American friends who work in the medical field came forth as sponsors.

The result is that Nakul is now in the third year of his 5½ year MBBS program (a degree in the British education system for qualifying physicians). Half of his starting class of 66 have washed out of the program giving further evidence of his fit with his future work. As the only Christian in his class, it is a mark of his character that he has been chosen as a class representative to the school administration.