Shiva Chaudhary
Empowering Freed Kamlaris Alumna
School Teacher in Nepal’s public schools
Advocate for young girls and women in Nepal
At just 10 years old, Shiva Chaudhary was sold into bonded labor through the Kamlari Indentured Servitude system. Her father, unable to pay for her education, had accepted an arrangement with a landlord who claimed would enroll her in school.
Instead, Shiva spent four years doing domestic labor, sometimes working in two homes, and looking after the landlord’s children. Shiva recalls that the one responsibility she preferred over the others was babysitting, as it gave her a chance to interact with children’s toys—something she had never had before. Despite the labor and hardship, Shiva managed to keep up with her studies.
Everything changed in 2004 when her parents learned about the Nepal Youth Foundation’s (NYF) movement to free girls from bonded labor. With NYF’s intervention, Shiva was rescued and enrolled in one of our bridging courses. In just six months, she was caught up in her studies and was directly admitted into the 8th grade. NYF continued supporting her education through Grade 12—but it was the bridging course that opened her eyes to her rights.
“NYF didn’t just pay my fees. They taught me to be fearless, to stand on my own, and to lift many kamlari girls alongside me. And that classroom gave me more than books,” Shiva recalls. “It gave me awareness—that bonded labor is wrong, and we must rise against it.”
Empowered by this knowledge, Shiva joined NYF’s freedom campaigns and became an active participant in the movement for almost eight years. She performed in street dramas to educate people and discourage them from sending their daughters into bonded servitude. She furthered her activism as a radio jockey, using broadcasts to raise awareness more widely across the country. Shiva then took on a leadership role within the movement and she became the founding president of a forum (which was later merged with the Freed Kamlari Development Forum*).
In 2016, Shiva’s childhood dream became a reality—she passed the teacher service commission exam and and became a government school teacher. Today, she teaches at a local school, serving children from some of Nepal’s most marginalized backgrounds.
Her bond with her students run deep. “I know their pain,” she says. “Sometimes they can’t even afford a pencil or notebook. I help them from my own salary. No child should drop out just because of poverty.”
Beyond providing material support, Shiva tirelessly connects children to government and NGO programs to ensure their continued education and well-being. Today, Shiva travels across Nepal, sharing her story and building solidarity among young girls and women. As a proud teacher and a former Kamlari, her message is both humble and profound: “Be a good human being first—everything else will follow.”
*NYF and leaders within the Freed Kamlari communities worked together to establish the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF) with chapters in villages throughout the Tharu community. This locally led nonprofit grew at first under the care of NYF, overseeing co-ops, community credit and lending groups, and other local organizations focused on empowering and strengthening the economy within Tharu communities, educating young women, preventing child marriage, and more.