Meet 17-year-old Sagun who helped her family come back from the brink of poverty

Sagun Chetri, a small town girl from Assam’s Haflong has seen abject poverty and hardships since she was 12 but it did not break her down. She fought back

By Swadeep Hasamsa

She is all of 17. Her smile will warm your heart. Thin and frail but not feeble. Sagun Chetri, a small town girl from Assam’s Haflong has become nothing less than an epitome of grit, determination and strength standing firm in the face of any kind of adversity.

Sagun has seen tragedy, abject poverty and hardships since the tender age of 12. Her house was ravaged by a massive landslide in 2018. She was just 12 then. She, her parents and her younger sister had a narrow escape.

Recollecting those scary moments, Sagun told Northeast Live, “Suddenly it started to rain heavily. Rain water entered our house. We rushed to our neighbour’s house to take shelter. Aunty was kind enough to take us all in. By morning our house was razed to the ground by a huge landslide. We lost everything.”

That is when Sagun and her family’s hardships began. Sagun was in Class 6 and her sister in Class 2. Her father, who was the breadwinner, could do little to support the family.

Realizing her parents’ bad situation, Sagun decided to take it upon herself to support her family financially. She opened a makeshift stall at Mahadev Tilla, near her house, and started selling items like betel nuts, chana, eggs, etc.

On the first day, she brought betel nuts from the Haflong market and sold them in her makeshift stall. To her utter joy and excitement, she ended up making a profit of Rs 500.

At first she felt shy to sit in the tiny stall. Her friends used to tease her. But she never gave up. She soon she realised no work is big or small.

The next day, she made a profit of around Rs 800–900.

Now a first-year student at Haflong Government College, Sagun attends her classes throughout the week and runs her shop on Sundays. Her income has also gradually increased now.

She is also taking tuitions to earn some extra bucks to pay for her sister’s school expenses.
“I had a dream of studying in Don Bosco, but couldn’t do that due to financial problems. I do not want that to happen to my sister. I decided that I will work hard to help my sister study well,” Sagun said, a broad smile crossing her face.

Sagun strongly believes in ‘where there is will, there is way’ and she is showing the way to all those people who might want to give up in the face of rejection, deprivation and distress.

“There’s nothing to be shy about. I know my parents are not financially stable. I have suffered so much that there was a time I didn’t have money to travel to school or afford my tiffin. My mother managed it with great difficulty. After seeing all these, I thought, whatever I went through, I don’t want my sister to go through the same,” a determined Sagun said filled with hope and positivity.

Also Read: Meet the Assam teacher who rescued over 80 dogs

COMMENTS