The first time I found myself stuck on a red dirt road in rural Liberia, our car had sunk deep into the mud, and the sun was setting. No phone signal. No light. No nearby village. Just miles of rough road behind us—and ahead. When we eventually made it to Zwedru—a place often left off the map and usually unreachable, the lights were off, and there was no water. In that very moment, it seemed as if I had circled back to my childhood in Nepal—when we faced power outages and struggled with access to basic resources. But this time, it was different. I was in Liberia as a UN Volunteer working with UN Women.
Raised between Kathmandu and Dublin, and half Irish, half Nepali, I am shaped by two vibrant cultures on opposite ends of the world. That dual experience frames my perspective: I’ve seen the glaring inequalities that exist, but also the resilience of communities facing them.