我是四十二個孩子的媽媽

When Maggie Doyne was a high school senior， she was on track. You know the one： Graduate on time and with good grades， spend four years at college， get a job—probably in an office and perhaps a short train ride away from her hometown. And then she woke up.

“I just woke up one morning feeling empty， not knowing what my purpose was，” the New Jersey native explains.“The thought of going to college was scary to me because I didnt know what I wanted to do， or who I wanted to be， or what I wanted to put my energy towards. So at the very last moment， I put off college. It was a big surprise to everybody.” She signed herself up for a gap year program that combined outdoor survival classes with service learning， and headed off to southern Asia.

Her second semester found her in India， at a time of civil war across the border in Nepal. The conflict created nearly a million orphans in the country， and many refugee children were fleeing to northeastern India， where Maggie was stationed. After months of working with the refugee community， she decided she wanted to see what was going on in Nepal for herself.

Traveling with a Nepali teenager she befriended in India， she made her way into “the middle of nowhere” following a ceasefire. “We spent two and a half days on a bus， and then three days walking， climbing mountains，” she says. “It was really strenuous， and also just so beautiful. I felt so at home， but I was really shocked to see the way women and children were living. I had never seen anything like that.”

She continued to travel throughout the region， meeting kids and listening to their stories， trying to understand the extreme poverty and dangerous conditions that were a reality of post-civil war life. She started to pick up the language， and made a decision—a really huge， life-changing decision—to put down roots in the Kopila Valley， convincing her parents to send her the $5，000 she saved up from years of babysitting. The money went toward buying land on which she built a childrens home; there are now 42 kids who call her “mom.”

“I wanted to give these kids a childhood similar to the one I had， with family and love，”she explains. A couple years later， she opened a school for students in the region： “Kids were laboring and being sold as domestic servants. They were getting in really bad situations， begging on the streets， breaking rocks on the side of the road. I didnt want to see it anymore. I wanted them to have a safe， happy place where they could thrive and learn.” The school now has 340 students; a high school is in the process of being built.

The next phase of Maggies work？ A womens center. “A lot of the women in my community were really struggling， and I was constantly having to call the police to report domestic violence. Suicide has actually emerged as the leading killer of women in Nepal，”Maggie says. Just as the school is a safe space for Nepali children， the center has become a source of light for women in the community.

“The girls and women have improved so much through the school and the center，”she says. “Its been inspiring to see all these generations join forces in a place where theyre safe and supported. They think their problems are really bad， but when they come together and realize everyone has the same worries and concerns and needs， it just gets so much better.”

As Maggies work has snowballed， so has the support around it. Theres now a fellow program that attracts volunteers from around the world， and the impact in Kopila is truly just the beginning. “If you told me when I was 16 that I was going to be living in remote Nepal and be a mom to 42 kids， I would have looked at you like you were the biggest liar in the world，” she says. “I didnt have any idea where life could take me， or that it could be this good and fulfilling. I wake up every day loving my work and thinking I have the greatest job in the universe. Its like， how did this happen？”

當(dāng)瑪吉·多因還在讀12年級的時候，一切都步入正軌。你知道的：以優(yōu)異的成績準(zhǔn)時畢業(yè)，讀四年大學(xué)，找一份工作——也許在離自己家一小段火車距離的辦公室上班。不過她醒過來了。

“一天早上我醒來，感覺空蕩蕩的，不知道自己是為了什么而活著，”這位（美國）新澤西人如是說?！跋氲揭x大學(xué)，我不禁害怕起來，因為我不知道自己想做什么，想成為怎樣的人，把自己的精力放到哪里。于是在最后一刻，我推遲了讀大學(xué)的時間。每個人都很吃驚。”她報名參加了一個結(jié)合戶外求生技能和服務(wù)培訓(xùn)的間隔年計劃，隨后遠(yuǎn)赴南亞。

到了第二學(xué)期，她來到印度，那時尼泊爾邊境正在打內(nèi)戰(zhàn)。沖突導(dǎo)致該國上百萬孤兒流離失所，很多難民兒童逃到印度東北部，也就是瑪吉駐扎的地方。為難民群體工作了幾個月后，她決定親自到尼泊爾看看當(dāng)?shù)厍闆r。

她在印度結(jié)識了一名尼泊爾少年，兩人在?；鹌陂g結(jié)伴來到了“無人地帶”?！拔覀冏藘商彀牍卉?，然后用了三天步行、爬山，”她說?！按_實很艱辛，但也很美好。我很有歸屬感，但當(dāng)我看到女性和兒童的生活狀況，實在很震驚。我從沒見過這種事情?！?/p>

她繼續(xù)在該區(qū)域探訪。途中，她遇見了很多孩子，聆聽他們的故事，嘗試?yán)斫鈨?nèi)戰(zhàn)以后那種極度貧窮、危險的生活環(huán)境。她開始學(xué)習(xí)當(dāng)?shù)卣Z言，并做了一個決定——一個改變?nèi)松闹卮鬀Q定——定居柯比拉山谷，還說服父母把自己做臨時保姆賺到的5000美元匯給她。這筆錢被用作購置土地，她在那里建起了一個兒童之家;現(xiàn)在有42個小孩叫她“媽媽”。

“我希望讓這些孩子都能有一個和我一樣的童年——有家，得到關(guān)愛，”她解釋說。幾年后，她為該地學(xué)生開辦了一家學(xué)校：“兒童要做苦力，被當(dāng)作家奴販賣。他們的情況真的很糟糕——在街上行乞，在路邊碎石。我不想再看到這種事了。我希望有一個安全快樂的地方可以讓他們茁壯成長，學(xué)習(xí)知識?！睂W(xué)?，F(xiàn)在有340名學(xué)生;一所高中正在建設(shè)中。

瑪吉下一階段的工作是什么？建一個婦女中心。“我所在社區(qū)的很多女性掙扎在痛苦邊緣，我總是被迫報警，舉報家庭暴力。事實上在尼泊爾，自殺已經(jīng)成為女性死亡的主要原因，”瑪吉說。正如學(xué)校對尼泊爾兒童來說是一個安全的地方，婦女中心也成了這個社區(qū)女性的一盞明燈。

“通過學(xué)校和婦女中心，女孩和婦女們得到了很大的提高，”她說?！翱吹讲煌甏娜嗽谝粋€安全、得到支持的地方同心協(xié)力，實在很令人鼓舞。他們覺得自己的問題很糟糕，然而當(dāng)他們團結(jié)在一起，意識到每個人都有相同的顧慮和擔(dān)憂，有同樣的需求，情況就會好起來?！?/p>

隨著瑪吉的工作迅速擴大，周圍的支持也在增加?，F(xiàn)在，一個“兄弟”計劃正吸引著世界各地的志愿者，柯比拉山谷的影響只是開始?！叭绻?6歲的時候，你對我說，我將在偏遠(yuǎn)的尼泊爾定居，成為42個孩子的媽媽，我會用‘你是世界上最能撒謊的人的眼神看著你，”她說。“以前我不知道生活會把我引領(lǐng)到哪個方向，也不知道原來生活可以這般美好充實。每天醒來，我都愛著我的事業(yè)，心里想著我有一份全宇宙最好的工作。就像，這一切是怎樣發(fā)生的呢？”