Professional Development and Research Center (PDRC) organized a talk program with Mr. Subhash Ghimire in Kathmandu on 9th June 2012. Mr. Ghimire is a student of public policy at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He shared his journey from the tiny village of Gorkha to Harvard University with the students.

He comes from a remote village called Arupokhari in Gorkha District, Nepal. Subhash is the founder and executive chairman of The Sarswati Foundation. After having spent four months in helping war-affected kids in Arupokhari, a remote village in western Nepal, he started the foundation to further the cause and help war-affected kids attend school. He also established a library with more than 1,600 books and two computers in Darbar Secondary School in Arupokhari where he started his education.

His passion lies in public interest and human rights law. Subhash aspires to catalyze youth-led movements in education, health, democracy and human rights issues in Nepal.

“I am a wildly optimistic person willing to sacrifice for my country so that future generations do not have to suffer the same way. I believe that changing a country has to start with educating the young generation and that is where I am investing my energy. With the Sarswati Foundation that I founded in the summer of 2009, I am now working on building the first peace school in Nepal so that the children whose lives were blighted by the war get an opportunity to overcome unfounded prejudice and discrimination and realize the possibilities of creating an informed and tolerant society for future generations. I want all of the children in my village to get the best possible education so that they can achieve their dreams of becoming not only doctors or pilots but anything else they desire to be.” he confessed his conviction.

It was a huge gathering of enthusiastic youths and he shared his exciting academic journey to Harvard University. He said, “I was a good student from my early days and my parents wanted me to be either doctor or a pilot. But, I chose a different path” said Mr. Ghimire. He further said that a person needs to have an abiding passion, love, and consistency to achieve success in any field.

“I chose public policy because I am interested to make my future in the public sphere. Cursing the old leadership is not enough; the new generation must replace them to lead this nation towards economic prosperity and social justice. I sincerely believe that I can make a difference through this field.” he told the youths.

He has been recognized for his achievements with several awards and honors. A few of these include most recently receiving the US Embassy Youth Advisory Council Award, the Distinguished Senior Leadership Award from st. Olaf in 2010, and the Clinton Global Initiative University in 2012 and the Epic Change Fellow Award in