Eros Gautam, Program Coordinator for Opportunity International Australia, shares a personal reflection on what it means to him to see our Health program expand to Nepal.

_{Above: Eros joins a community health education session led by a female Health Leader}

Growing up in Nepal, I saw up close how fragile life could be when healthcare was out of reach. A mother’s fever could delay the harvest. A complicated childbirth could leave a family in debt for years. And too often, it was women who bore the heaviest cost — caring for others while neglecting their own health or putting their children’s needs before their own.

When I was a child, someone in our family died during childbirth, and looking back, I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different if she’d had access to proper healthcare, antenatal checkups and an institutional birth.

That’s why the expansion of Opportunity International’s Health Leaders program into Nepal means so much to me — both personally and professionally. For years, this program has transformed lives in Bangladesh, Indonesia and India by training women as Health Leaders: equipping them with the knowledge and confidence to educate their neighbours, connect families to care, and even facilitate telehealth services in their villages. These women become trusted voices, breaking down barriers of distance, cost, and stigma that so often keep families from seeking timely care.

Now, for the first time, this model is coming home to Nepal. In July we facilitated the first local partner Health Summit, where our new partners from Nepal, Nirdhan and Jeevan Bikas came together with Health program partners from India and Bangladesh, as well as prospective partners from Africa, sharing knowledge and learning from each other.

_{Above: Eros collaborates with local partner for our Health Leaders program at the 2025 Health Summit}

I also spent some time in Nepal in July, visiting family and meeting with one of our local partners Nirdhan, who are very excited to be bringing this proven Health Leaders model to Nepal. Working so closely with communities of low-income women, they have seen firsthand the need for this community-led health approach but didn’t have the resources to do it on their own.

For me, it feels like a full circle moment. I know the communities where this program will take root. I know the resilience of Nepali women, and I also know the challenges they face. To imagine women in villages where my roots are from — women who were once last in line for healthcare — now standing at the front, leading their communities to healthier futures, is nothing short of transformational.

This expansion is about healthcare reaching women who faced limited access, but it’s also about dignity, empowerment, and breaking cycles of poverty. It means that no family has to choose between medicine and school fees, or between saving a loved one’s life and going deeper into debt.

Personally, it’s a reminder of why I do this work. Because the faces I see in these programs could just as easily be my own relatives, my neighbours, or childhood friends. And now, with Opportunity’s Health Leaders program reaching Nepal, I know that more women will have the chance to not only protect their families — but to lead their communities toward lasting change.

Learn more about how Health Leaders are improving health knowledge and transforming their communities.