STARS Foundation

Meet Rajesh

The story of Rajesh is the story of a street boy who turns into a small entrepreneur. Rajesh Gurung is a 15 year old boy originally from Mustang district, who used to live on the streets.

When he was a small child, Rajesh’s parents separated. His father left and his mother married another man. This was a difficult time for Rajesh and he decided to move to Pokhara and started to live on the street.

By chance, he came into contact with Child Welfare Scheme Nepal’s (CWSN) JYOTI Street Project, where he received shelter, food and assistance. He slowly became familiar with the Children’s Development Khajana (CDK) programme, which helps children to gain skills in money management and business together with other life skills. He became the member of CDK and slowly his behavior started to change. For example he learned about the importance of saving money for the future and became himself a regular saver. He then had the opportunity to be coached by CWSN’s team in how to run a business.

One year on, Rajesh was able to change drastically. He started a small business of selling bottled water. Later, he switched to selling vegetables. He is now quite satisfied with his work and says, “Had I not received business training from CDK, I would not have been able to start a business and earn money to live on my own.”