Tarka is 72-year-old and lives in the remote district of Baglung in western Nepal with his wife and daughter-in-law. He is the carer of his 35-year-old daughter-in-law, Sabitra, who has epilepsy. Tarka’s son, who is Sabitra’s husband, lives and works in Saudi Arabia which is why Tarka has taken up the responsibility of caring.    

Sabitra began having fits from the age of 16 and Tarka has cared for her since this time. The family tried local healing methods to cure Sabrita’s epilepsy, but this was unsuccessful. Over the years, the family struggled to financially support Sabitra and did not have enough money to pay for hospital treatment whenever Sabitra required it. Tarka used to manage a small field for food production but this did not produce enough money for the family and for the care of Sabrita. He would have to borrow money often and ended up in a lot of debt.

4 years ago, Tarka took Sabitra to a Mental Health camp organised as part of our project in partnership with local NGO LEADS Nepal. Here, she was formally diagnosed with epilepsy and was put on the correct medication which improved her symptoms.  Around the same time, Tarka became a member of his local carers group and Carers Cooperative. Through his cooperative membership he accessed a loan which enabled him to expand his field work and to set up a shop from which he and his daughter-in-law can sell produce from their field.

Tarka said that before the Carers Worldwide project, there were no alternatives and he used to be sick with worry about his economic situation. Since the project, his financial situation has drastically changed and his family are economically secure.

Since the improvement to his life, Tarka has become an Executive Member of his district-level Carers Cooperative so he can play an active role in assisting other carers in transforming their lives.

We think Tarka is a great role model, caring for his daughter-in-law and inspiring other carers through his role as an Executive Member of the Carers Cooperative. If you would like to enable us to support more carers like Tarka, please consider making a donation.