Samaanta Holiday Update 2025
With gratitude and hope!
Dear Friends,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As we approach the 15th year of our Fellowship, I am excited to share that our Fellows and Alumni continue to grow and thrive.
This year, we welcomed our largest and most diverse cohort, with 19 Fellows. Further, 11 of our high school Fellows have been promoted to the senior Samaanta Fellowship to continue their undergraduate level. This takes our total active Fellows to 86 this year, with each Fellow receiving up to seven years of funding and support.
Following the recent political turmoil in Nepal, we have been busy building, deepening, and rebuilding our Samaanta community this year. Some of our Fellows participated in the Gen Z protests against the anti-corruption and nepo-baby trend, supported crowd control in the District Election Office in Lalitpur, and established voter registration corners in their respective hostels, showing immense social and civic responsibility. We have also initiated the Samaanta Civics Circle, with 25 Fellows meeting weekly to discuss and learn more about global and national civic and political issues.
Our Fellows have taken these learnings and awareness beyond the Samaanta ecosystem, and are engaged in several impactful community service projects. This year our Fellows have addressed 18 local issues in 11 districts of Nepal, impacting over 400 individuals in the process.
Our Fellows abroad are also thriving, academically and otherwise. I was able to visit our Fellows in the US this Fall, and their performance and perseverance are nothing short of remarkable.
We know we have a long way to go, and there is so much unmet need still in Nepal and beyond, but the perseverance and successes of our Fellows and Alumni give us the strength and the courage to keep progressing this important mission.
Civic Engagement during Emergency Times
On September 8, 2025, the Gen Z demonstrations shook Nepal with a wave of tragedy and uncertainty. What began as peaceful street protests led by young people turned into a massacre, with 19 people losing their lives that day, and a total of 76 people killed over the next few days. Confusion, violence, and curfews affected everyday life in Nepal. In the days that followed, our foremost priority was Fellow safety and well-being. We scheduled emotional check-ins and deeper discussions on national developments to keep Fellows engaged.
Observing our Fellows’ motivation and willingness to engage in civic issues, and in recognition of the current socio- political climate in Nepal, Samaanta Civics Circle was formed to nurture the interest of our Fellows to continue informed participation and youth representation in political discourse. The organizing team is led by our Fellows - Dipisha, Dhiraj, Nabindra, Puskar, and Roshna - each bringing academic background and applied experience to the subject matter. They co-designed a 12-week learning experience with the team, and are responsible for planning and organizing engagements for the Civics Circle every week for the next three months, after which they plan to transition their membership to another equally-driven group of Fellows.
Service projects
Community projects lie at the heart of Samaanta’s core values of service, leadership, and ‘paying it forward’. Fellows carried out 18 different service projects across 11 districts of Nepal this year. Using creative methods like workshops, discussions, and hands-on activities, our Fellows were able to respond to the local needs of their own communities with care through projects like ‘Healthy Farming Through Personal Hygiene’, ‘Discussion on youth voices in Social change’ and ‘Project Reuse 2.0 (Reuse Plastic: Heal Nature)’. Each group sought to address a wide range of social, political and environmental issues.
With their awareness campaign ‘Health for All: Awareness About Nepal Health Insurance Program (NIHP)’, Brijlal, Dipak, and Mamita sought to increase understanding of health insurance among vulnerable households in Parsa district. Targeting all age groups, their project helped recognize the benefits of NHIP and encourage enrollment to reduce financial issues during illness, improve access to healthcare, and long-term health security. Community members have shared that they have enrolled in NHIP following the project.
Similarly, on another Fellows’ project on ‘Inclusive Workshop on Art, Nature & Play’, Dristi, Gagan, Mer Bahadur, Nabindra, Rachita, and Shobha used hands-on activities like games, paintings and plantation to create a safer space for expression among children with special needs at Lubhoo Day Care, Lalitpur. Their project was designed to foster inclusion and equality through joyful learning. Both the children and the caregivers thoroughly enjoyed these events. Our Fellows reported that they learned a lot from the children as well, contributing to their own growth, reminding us that effective service and caregiving can be a two-way street.
Fellows in the US
In October this year, I had the opportunity to visit all our current Fellows studying in the United States. A number of Samaanta Fellows have received prestigious United World Colleges (UWC) scholarships over the last decade to pursue their International Baccalaureate degrees abroad, and then have secured Davis Foundation fellowships to pursue their undergraduate degrees at fantastic liberal arts colleges such as Luther, St. Olaf, and Whitman. I met with their academic advisors; Admissions, Student Life, and International Student Deans; and even the President of St Olaf. I got to learn about our Fellows’ journeys on campus, and was left proud and impressed by how well they are doing. Our Fellows are not only participating in these international higher education spaces, but are thriving within them. They are maintaining strong academic standing and high GPAs (averaging 3.7!), contributing actively to campus life, and carrying Samaanta’s values of service, leadership, and ‘paying it forward’ across the world.
Graduate spotlight: Advocate for equitable healthcare
Hishila Danuwar from Kavrepalanchowk was selected as a Samaanta Foundation Fellow in 2018. After her higher secondary education, she secured a full scholarship to pursue her bachelor’s in public health at the Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences. She graduated this year with a 3.8 GPA. Over the years, she has mentored several junior Fellows, contributed immensely to our internal teams, and also guided the juniors to join the Government’s Health Insurance initiative.
Hishila led a Community Health Diagnosis program in Sanosirubari, Sindhupalchwok with a focus on nutrition for young mothers. She has also served as a member of the board at Hamro Paalo (2021-2024), an organization that aims to empower adolescents and women and equip them with skills and knowledge to create their own safe and healthy futures.
Driven by a deep commitment to community wellbeing and equitable access to healthcare, she believes in creating positive change through evidence-based action and collaboration. She is passionate about working closely with communities to enhance their quality of life by improving health awareness, access, and outcomes. She is currently studying for her Public Health Licence Exam and is also serving as a Youth Facilitator at Haamro Paalo. Hishila has made the most of the opportunities she has received at Samaanta, and embodies our values of service, leadership, and ‘paying it forward’ in her daily life.
Thank you
The Fellowship has continued to grow over the last year. We are so proud of our Fellows and Alumni, who are not just excelling academically but also serving with intent, leading with empathy, and paying it forward. Their successes would not have been possible without your support and belief in our mission and our vision. Thank you so much for walking this journey with us for the last ~15 years, and here’s to many more years of partnership, camaraderie, and leveling the playing field for all.
On behalf of the entire Samaanta Foundation family, I wish you and your loved ones a happy, peaceful, prosperous, and restful Holidays.
With love,
Shrochis
Samaanta Foundation