Letter 31 - She Acted On The Visions That Haunted Her!
Hello Bregdan Woman,
Here are some things I believe all women need to know…
Life never needs to be boring or purposeless.
Life is not just about accumulating things, making money or having influence.
Life is about fulfilling your purpose. Your purpose is simple. It is doing what you love to do.
Many times, but not always, it is doing it in a way that helps many other people.
So many people think their purpose is an evasive thing that can never truly be discovered. I don’t agree.
I think your purpose is simple…
It is doing what you love to do.
I’m here to tell you about one Bregdan Woman who took bold steps to do what made her happy. Her name is Victoria Subirana (later known as Vicki Sherpa)
Raised in Ripoll, Catalonia (in Spain) Vicki had a rapacious appetite for learning. As a child, Vicki giggled while the other students clapped their hands over their ears when chalk squeaked on the black board. She found it funny that almost everyone else found that squeak unpleasant. It didn’t bother her. It meant that she was learning!
Vicki always knew she would add her own chalk squeaks to the world of school chalkboards – She was going to teach. She was certain of it.
Little did she know where she’d end up teaching, and the thousands of lives she would change.
She could not study and learn enough. Everything she learned made her hungry to know more. After graduating from her local university, she taught kindergarten in Spain for ten years.
When her hunger for learning kicked in again, she attended graduate classes at various universities. Her Master’s degree came from Michigan State University in the USA.
With her education behind her, she knew there was something very special she was meant to do. But what?
It all began with a fascination of Nepal. She heard and read about it but had never visited. The fascination became a longing. Then a necessity.
Here are some things you should know about Nepal back in the 80’s. Nepal is a multiethnic, multicultural society with an 80% illiteracy rate. The vast majority of people can’t read.
There is no teacher training in Nepal and no obligatory education. Many of the children in the poorest families have to work and are never able to go to school. With a population of approximately 20 million, one million children in Nepal under the age of 14 have to work for very little in return.
And then this fact - the one that broke my heart… 200,000 children, as young as eight years old, are forced into child prostitution rings in India to help pay off family debts.
When Vicki arrived in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal in 1988, she was shocked at the poverty, the terrible living conditions, and lack of education for so many children. Those images burned her heart and mind especially when she returned home.
The dreams of the street children fueled her thoughts of what she could do for these young minds. Her desires endured to return to Nepal and teach.
One year later, haunted by the visions of Kathmandu, Vicki moved to Nepal to learn the country’s language and culture firsthand. She wound up founding (as Bregdan Women do) her first of many schools -- Dorgee School. That founding school began with merely 32 children- refugees from Tibet.
Vicki poured her heart and soul into making a difference in these children’s lives. The challenge filled her with joy, purpose, and a determination to do even more.
But then life kicked her in the teeth and presented her with a challenging decision.
Just one year after arriving, with her project well underway, Nepalese authorities denied her a work permit. She would have to close her school and forget her dreams.
The parents of the children in her classes, however, were so pleased with her work that they suggested she marry one of the members of the community to be allowed to stay in the country. Vicki had serious doubts about the solution, but she couldn’t come up with a better one.
A stream of candidates lined up for selection in a country where arranged marriages are quite common. Wondering, I’m sure, if she was out of her mind, Victoria finally married Ang Kami Sherpa and took the name Vicki Sherpa.
She traveled back and forth from Spain - arranging funding and recruiting teachers who would train Nepali teachers.
Four years later, steeped in the culture and language of Nepal, she was ready to serve the poorest of the poor – the people that truly tugged on her heartstrings.
Vicki started another school: the Daleki School in Kathmandu for the most impoverished children: teaching them their culture, history and traditions.
“Teacher, Teacher… there is a girl here... She has nowhere to go.” With that innocent, simple plea, Vicki’s heart grew even bigger.
Her purpose expanded.
Abandoned in a market in Kathmandu, a vulnerable little 7-year-old girl with disabilities was brought into Vicki’s room at the school. What did this Bregdan Woman do?
In response to yet another need in her adopted country, she opened another school/center: the Reception Center. The Reception Center provides housing and medical attention to children with special needs as well as educational support to help the children attend schools.
It’s not hard to see why the people loved Vicki and turned to her when there was a need. Nepal had become part of Vicki, even as she had become part of Nepal… but it still wasn’t enough!
Vicki was unstoppable. Her huge heart moved her beyond Nepal to the lands of Pakistan and Bangladesh, where she set up more schools.
Schools for the poorest of the poor.
Vicki was doing what she loved to do! What made her happy!
Vicki has been honored, given numerous awards, loudly applauded, and internationally revered. Her Daleki School is now an international model school.
Yet when you hear Vicki speak about her sole achievement, her greatest reward and her soul satisfying accomplishment – it is knowing she made a difference.
She touched people’s lives and offered tangible hope for their future.
Her decisions and actions impacted nations and altered the course of history for countless children and families.
What is the key to Vicki’s life?
This Bregdan Woman simply did what she loved.
She taught.
The secret to success is not a secret. We’ve heard the cliché:
“…. find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
It is a true statement.
I live it every day as I write my books and create these letters. I don’t work - I do what I love! I do what makes me happy!
Ask yourself, as a Bregdan Woman, what do you love?
Set your heart and mind, energy and vision on doing that thing. You will do what you love and love what you do.
We hope you remember Vicki with each step you take toward living the life you dream.
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And as always… What will you do today to impact history??
I’m on this journey with you…
Ginny
