From Prison Walls to Butterfly Wings: The Story of Pushpa Basnet
PUSHPA BASNET
Had the bushy and crawling caterpillar ever dreamt of being a beautiful butterfly and roam the whole world flying and flapping its wings on its own?
Same, the small children sitting behind the incarcerated mothers in prisons, were not allowed to dream on their own, even if they dreamt of carving a beautiful painting, nothing was going to change their lives. Only, the days were sure to pass inside the jail/prison house by crying and listening to the gossips of all the other ones. Those innocent children were getting the punishment of their undone deeds.
One day, a ray of bright sunshine peeked through the dark and black clouds in the sky. An undergratuate girl in social work, as a part of her school assignment, stepped towards the Janana Prison House, Kathmandu. Her footsteps in the prison house brought drastic change in the lives of those small children who were compelled to stay in prison without their fault. 
Pushpa Basnet receiving Rs10 million contribution from the
Prabhakar SJB Rana Endowment Fund (Kathmandu Post, 2023)
Had anyone thought that the school assignment of an undergratuate girl would able to restore the childhood of those children staying in the prison house? No one had ever imagined that she would continue her good deeds and will be to grab the CNN SUPER HERO award-2016, CNN HERO of the year-2012. Yes, she is fully dedicated, devoted and loving mother of over 500 children, Pushpa Basnet.
She started a non-profit organization named Butterfly Home which is situated about 6 kilometres north of Kathmandu,Nepal when she was 21 years of age. Firstly, the organization was named as Early Childhood Development Center which was started from a small room costing the rent of Nrs. 7000, but today the organization has been florished and consists of 150000000 property. She has established this organization with the motive of rearing and caring the children of prisoned parents so that they too should not bear the punishment of the deeds of their parents. The motive of the organization is"No child should be left behind the walls of prison." In Nepal, incarcerated mothers must choose between bringing their children to live with prison or sending them to the street. Being saddened by seeing the bitter truth of the children she decided to do something good in her life. This is how the organization came into existence.
In the present context, there are lots of children from 13 months old to 16 years of age. Not only they are provided with food and shelter, but they are also getting all the love and care from Pushpa. All the children present there call her "mamu"(mother). It's a safe place where children can live, thrive and dream about their futures while still maintaining contact with their parents. The organization also supports the children who are back with their parents financially by providing scholarship named "Butterfly scholarship" for their further education.It consists of separate girls and boys quarters, complete with a medical room and a library. The houses and grounds include play areas, dining facilities, musical instruments, taekwondo classes and the teachers of the organization teach children all the skills and knowledge required for their lifetime, so that the children should not feel its absence in their future. Also, here, the children are taught to make handicrafts, wool crafts, etc.and those are sold to the market so that the child could develop self- esteem and confidence .
According to Pushpa Basnet, during the previous days of the establishment of the organization, the mothers were not able to leave their child thinking that the organization was established for illegal purposes. She remembered her previous days and added" How hard those days were?" Before she had faced lots of difficulties herself. She said" Today there are my all children with me to help overcome my problems." Till today, a large amount of fund is raised worldwide for the organization and 100% of the money goes directly to the butterfly home organization.The organization has grown bigger and bigger day by day. Large number of children who were small enough, have now got special opportunities to study higher level education. In 2023, Butterfly Home continued to receive recognition and support for its remarkable work. According to The Kathmandu Post (2023), the Prabhakar SJB Rana Endowment Fund handed over a contribution of Rs10 million to Pushpa Basnet for her children’s home, Butterfly Home.
In my opinion, the children who were dreamless, aimless, have got their wings to fly in their own dreamland, dreaming about their successful and happy life. And those precious dreams have been fulfilled because of the butterfly organization. These days besides the children from the prison house, the organization also take good care and rare for the street orphan children too. All the children are fulfilled with all the rights they need for. When you visit the organization, it doesn't seem like a childcare home but it feels as a large family where everyone is contented and happy with each other and helps each other in need.
The organization has been able to bring the bright and cheerful face, piles of laughter, and the ability to dream and accomplish the desires and will of the children. Huge salute to the whole team of Butterfly Home who had worked selflessly to turn the lives of the new grown- ups from caterpillars to butterfly.
From the shadows of confinement, these children have truly emerged as butterflies - free, colorful, and full of dreams.
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