Most Significant Change Stories

A daily fight for trust

Bibek Khadka is disabled. Through journalism he has gotten the tool to change the way society looks a disabled people

By Malene Lærke

26. July 2006

24 year old Bibek Khadha has two small malformed feet because he got polio as a baby. He uses two sticks to be able to walk and it takes a huge effort for him but he does it with a smile. He smiles and laughs a lot and he instantly makes people feel comfortable. Throughout his life he has had to fight for trust and prove that just because it is difficult for him to walk does not mean there is something wrong with his head and the words he is saying. He works hard to overcome the barriers in a society that believes that disability is a curse from gods and goddesses. 

“The society does not believe and trust the work of a disabled person which creates a lot of problems. It took me three years before I got the opportunity to read the news on the radio because the belief is that you cannot trust a disabled person,” says Bibek Khadka who has been working at radio Swargdwari in Tribhuwan Nagar Ghorahi in Dang district since 2000. Nowadays he is managing five programmes at the radio one of them being the weekly radio program Apanga Jagaran - Awareness of Disabled people.

“I was finally trusted but it took a lot of time but I hope I have proved that just because I have problems with my legs does not mean I have problems with my head,” he states firmly and gives his audience a laugh.

Today he has gone to small Kamaiya settlement two kilometres outside of town. He wants to do story about the villagers lack of knowledge about free education from the government. It is always difficult for him to get outside of town but the local bus or a rickshaw helps him to get around doing stories. The villagers flock around him when he comes and he sits down to talk with the parents and the children.

The boy with the sticks

The road to journalism began more than five years ago when a journalist from Kantipur wrote his life story. Bibek Khadha had just arrived from Rukum district and had begun studying at Mahendra Multiple Campus. The campus could not provide chairs for all students so most students had to stand up during class including Bibek Khadha. 

“I stood there with my two sticks and there was no one who would give up his seat for me. At that time I had not yet learned to speak up and you had to be able to run fast to get a chair to sit on,” Bibek Khadha recalls and says that the coverage in Kantipur raised peoples awareness of his disability and it raised his awareness of what it is possible to achieve as a disabled journalist.

“When I was younger I was thinking how I could establish myself in society being a disabled and at the same time help other disabled people. I knew that journalism is the voice of the voiceless and I thought that if I can help to get the voice of the successful disabled into society it will help other disabled people,” he tells and begins to give examples to show the changes that have begun to happen in the society. 

“Once I broadcasted a programme about unemployed disabled people who are just staying at home doing nothing. I told them that even though they are disabled they have capacities. After this programme a local NGO has begun to support income generating activities for disabled people,” he tells and mentions that two disabled people today are today working; one as an electrician and another as a tailor. 

“The NGO provides loans and makes it possible to start a small business and that makes a huge difference for someone who did not have any hope of being able to do anything,” says Bibek Khadha.

Many disabled people in the community can also get money for loans to buy poultry, goats and seeds to grow their own vegetables.

“In that way the disabled win trust in their families and they show that they are capable,” Bibek Khadha says with a smile that fades when he tells that people used to leave when they saw a disabled person. However, that is also changing.

“And I have affected that. People also used to look at disabled people with pity and the disabled used to think that they could not make a difference for themselves. That is also changing,” he says confidently and tells about his friend Jutharam Ghriti Amark B.K that used to stay at home being a burden to his family. Today he has his own sowing business. 

Finding the burning issue

A year ago Bibek Khadha received one radio training for MS Nepal’s partner organisation Nepal Pres Institute in Nepalgunj. This has given him more edge in his daily work. 

“It made be better at finding burnings issues, writing scripts and I gained knowledge about how to build up a story. To make radio is different from writing articles because I have to use simple words that people can understand the instant that they hear them,” he tells and adds that it is difficult for him to pin point exactly how his working style has changed but he tries anyway.

“Before the training I just wrote what I had seen. One person is suffering. I only saw that this one person needed assistance. However, today I can also see why he is suffering and the possible solutions for him and the reasons why this is happening in our society,” says Bibek Khadha and tells that is has broadening his journalism approach in another direction too.

“When I came into journalism I just wanted to see the issues of the disabled but now I also see other problems. I can see the main problem of a story,” he smiles.  

Nowadays Bibek Khadha dreams of getting a job at a radio station in a bigger city and a decent salary. Today his salary is the rent for a small room.