PEP wasn't imported from the West — it was designed from the ground up by Bikash & Bijata Adhikari (pictured here). We (Bruce & Verna), were in the founding meeting but the local expertise in the design was credible, compassionate, and compelling. We were humbled to simply watch experts at work. Their insight inspired us to act. Bijata, who had previously managed a traditional sponsorship program, was the strategic thinker in building something different and better.

Every part of the strategy, from intake to enrichment, reflects what she learned firsthand: that real change happens when a program is built by the people who understand the community it serves, not designed elsewhere and shipped in.