Social Work Spotlight - International Episode 3: Victory (Nepal)

Episode Date: September 27, 2025

In this episode I speak with Victory, who has over eleven years of experience in the NGO sector in Nepal and is currently pursuing her PhD. She has worked extensively on issues such as mental health, anti-trafficking, gender equality, community development in slum areas, youth empowerment, and the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children and her expertise spans program design, proposal writing, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building, and policy advocacy. Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:New SADLE Fair Trade Group - https://fairtradegroupnepal.org/member/new-sadleThis episode's transcript can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VlTwm5J1Hxt5tr4YVAE2RMXaKowCDNgMgg7uOxBQ-Wg/edit?usp=sharingThanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

Before beginning, I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the countries of guests featured in this podcast and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, waters and community. I pay my respects to the First Nations people, the cultures and the elders, past, present and emerging. Hi, and welcome to Social Work Spotlight, where I showcase different areas of the profession each episode, with a 12-month focus on social workers around the world as of August 2025. I'm your host, Yasmin Lupus, and today's guest is Victory, a dedicated social work professional with over 11 years of experience in the NGO sector in Nepal. She has worked extensively on issues such as mental health, anti-trafficking, gender equality, community development in slum areas, youth empowerment, and the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Currently pursuing a PhD in social work, Victory has led organisations like New Sattery

as a mental health social worker and contributed as a consultant to the social welfare council. Her expertise spans program design, proposal writing, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building and policy advocacy. Victory is also published in peer-reviewed journals and brings both academic insight and grassroots experience to her work. Thank you so much, Victory, for coming on to the podcast today. I'm looking forward to speaking with you about your experience in social work in Nepal specifically. Thank you to you, Yasmin. I'm very happy to, I think this is my first podcast ever, so I'm very excited.

I'd love to know firstly when you got started in social work and what brought you to the profession. Actually, when I started studying social work, there was only in one college Sanjavours and I didn't know about what is social work. Is there any social work college or social work? education. But deep down, I always wanted to help others. So after completing my, you know, plus two, I went searching for the subject which will help other people. So at that time, I found a social work college and I joined social work education. So that was my starting journey.

Yeah. And how long is the social work degree in Nepal? It's a bachelor's three years and then master's two years. Okay. So. So it's a long commitment. You have to really know what you want to do, right? Yeah. And currently I'm doing PhD in social work also. Wow. How many years is the PhD? Is it four years part time? Is it similar to here? Actually, it's for five years, but, you know, the education system is a little bit slower than in foreign countries. But we kind of say it's a full time, not part time.

And how long do you expect that to? take you? Actually, I'm in research proposal right now. So I have already submitted to my department. So now I'm waiting for their reply and then my film part will be carried out. So actually I'm waiting for it. Yeah. And I'd love to talk to you more about that later, but I'll come back to, I'm curious as part of the bachelor degree and the master's, what sort of practical experience did you want to take through that? Actually, you know, in Nepal there is a culture like everyone is social worker. Everyone likes to do, you know, help other people even by distributing food schools.

So we have that sort of social work concept in Nepal. And while, you know, doing educational, professional social work, it was very difficult for me and other social workers to, you know, make them understood what's the real, professional social work and the normal social work or social social service. So I think, I don't know, I can make you clear on this. The main goal is for me to, you know, help anyone through my profession so that they can become independent and the effect will be long term. That's it. Yeah. And did you have and specific internships that you got the opportunity to do? Yeah, I think the college they send us to different placement. So we have a placement system in our college. So I have went through my three

years bachelor's program. I went to community school and then mental health organization and then internship at orphanage home. So that was in three years bachelor's program. And in master's, we went to community, remote village area, where we stayed for one month and then we did research program and find out the root problem in that community. And we tried a traditional method to identify and solve those problems. So in Masters and in Passes, the placement system was very different and effective in its own way. And it sounds as though you've been able to use parts of that you've had a lot of work now in the mental health space plus you're doing research so you've been able to combine all of that really nicely yeah so while having lots of lots of

experience in field and the later combining my mental health education it was very easy for me to understand people their psychology and the approaches we studied in social work combining with mental health in practical field, that made me, you know, different from other social worker and which also, I think, make me outstand and reach to the people's health and to solve their problem easily. So I think I'm proud of that also. Yeah, it sounds wonderful. I'm also curious then how you see in Nepal specifically social work being different. from psychology if you've had quite a lot of mental health experience. So we have, you know, different education, like main core subject as a bachelor's in psychology,

masters in psychology. But in social work, we have only part of the psychology, you know, psychosocial counseling. So we are not like advanced or we have studied deeper like in psychology. But those aspects, what we have studied in social work, is more, very much, truthful and effective because it combines both practical field and, you know, resource from psychology. So I think more than psychology, in my point of view, the mental health social work and the subject has been more approachable and effective.

And it sounds like it fits with your desire to help lots of people all at once, maybe in sort of community development approach and a bit more. wider reaching than sitting with someone one-on-one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's amazing. What has led to this point where you feel like you want to do more study, more research, what kind of mental health experience have you had so far? I have worked with prostitutes, children with exploitation, then in rehab,

and also lately with disability people. So, you know, working with all of them and learning their psychology, and even providing, you know, beside my position in the organization, and combining my social work field and my mental health education. I have been able to solve many issues which my post has described. But lately, you know, those all my helping nature towards them has made me traumatized. So lately I was having, you know, difficulties getting married. And I was difficult in having baby because all those past experience as a social worker, you know, I always wanted to help them.

I always wanted to, you know, take out them from their problem. And if I could not, it always, you know, bother me for months or for a year. So as being a social worker, there was always a limitation. We have studied that there is a limitation, what's the rule of social worker. But at a certain point, we can't do being a social worker. There's always a limitation in every field, you know, but I don't know, maybe I'm more empathetic person. So because of that, now currently I'm having all my, you know, 10 years of working experience, traumatic experience to myself from every field, you know, to my personal level. So I don't know,

I'm able to give you your answer or I went outside your question. No, no, I, that makes sense to me. So from what I'm hearing, it sounds as though the accumulation of being in these roles, the effect of that, what sounds like burnout or compassion fatigue from being exposed to such traumatic content has made it difficult to be sustaining this kind of work. And so perhaps has that been the catalyst, do you think, or the trigger for you to want to look at a specific type of thing in more detail through your research and maybe make a difference in one area? Yeah, that's why I was, you know, very interested because I, while working with prostitute and exploitation of children, I was like very excited to learn about divorce. So my topic for PhD is also main core topic is divorce. So I, why after having a baby or after, you know, either it's love affair or it's, you know, orange marries or love marries, why even it's children or even. after you are mature and get married, why there is, you know, divorce increasing.

So all this my field experience and working experience lead me to carry out research in this area, this divorce area. So I wanted to find out why and how social worker can help or, you know, how social worker can, you know, find out any intervention or Nepal context. wise, any solving areas or solving approaches. So I wanted to contribute now in those areas because I won't be able to help them, you know, through my development field or NGOs every time.

So those upcoming social workers, they might, you know, through my resources, they can help or work as a social worker in those areas. Yeah. And is there much stigma, Do you think in Nepal around divorce or effects of marriage breakdown, are those sorts of things that you're reading about or seeing in your work? Yeah, you know, it's always, you know, the main stigma is whether husband, you know,

he's foiled every time we are in patriarchal society in Nepal. And every time, whatever the reason is, the female is blamed. The female is, you know, kick out from the family. and the female is like have to face all the traumatic experience, bullies, everything. And the male, they are like easily able to get married after divorce, but females, they have to suffer a lot. Even they are tagged as a prostitute if they got divorced. So that kind of stigma is still, you know, very much relevant.

You can see very much nowadays. And recent data, it shows that every day in Nepal there is 17 divorce cases. So it's increasing day by day. And I also want to find out why it's happening. So what are the intervention? You know, local intervention was like family will pressurize. This is wrong thing. This is you can't, you know, leave your wife or husband.

That was the, you know, forceful intervention is there in our community. But there are no any proper or social work intervention till now or there is no any books or practices I have found till now in Nepal. So in this area, at least my interested area, I want to find out social work intervention and approaches. Yeah. And it sounds as though as part of that researching around what those pressures are that lead to or maybe just the reasons for divorce,

you'll also find a lot of information around the flow-on effects. So if someone does go through divorce, what impact does that have in the Nepalese context and how can social workers try to support people in that situation? Yeah. And that's huge. That's such a huge scope. And I wonder whether, you know, that's why you have the people at the university who can give you some guidance in if this is too big, how do we help narrow this down?

But you would have already gone through so much of that just in trying to narrow down your research topic. and it's hard when you're so passionate about something to try to keep it contained like that. Yeah. So maybe I'm working with my professor and supervisor. So it's not in my final stage, my proposal. So they will help me to break down and we can go more in a core area and find out impactful intervention through my PhD research. So the main goal is that. Yeah.

And I did see that you're also a general member of your national, social work association. Is there any action within the National Association or maybe if there's not, that's what you're hoping to influence? Yeah, I'm actually helping to influence it. They have recent, I don't know about recent works of them because of my baby. I'm not able to, you know, get updated. But they are working for, like, you know, loving for license, professional social work

license. besides that, I think they have not been working in other areas or they are not able to give time for other areas. So the main goal for them right now is for loving license for a social worker, professional social worker. Okay. And how do you do all this? You're a power woman. I think you've got, now you've got your family, you've got your little baby boy. How do you juggle everything and make sure that you can just stay afloat and maintain your energy?

Truly speaking, it's been a month that I'm in very dramatic experience. And I don't know, it's good to share or not because it's my personal information. But I'm going through, you know, I'm questioning my profession. I'm questioning my work because the big scope, the social work which provides, you know, fight for the voiceless, fight for their rights. I was doing all those things through past 10 years, but now, you know, I'm not able to fight for my own rights. So I'm in that trap situation and I'm questioning my, you know, education and the things which I've did for past 10 to affairs for the rights of other. Now I feel like I'm being the client and I need some social worker to help me out.

Yeah, it's such a difficult position to be in. and you need to be strong for everyone else around you, but sometimes we forget to look after ourselves. Yeah. So yesterday only I called one of my friend from other organization. I said her like, you know, I'm questioning my work and my identity as a social worker. Now I'm being client and she was laughing like, no, you can't be a client. I'll help you out.

So you need to be a social worker. You can't be client. was like pushing me to be, you know, get back to track. So now my mental health, and we don't have any system here, you know. So how much work social worker needs to be done. There is always pressure in the organization also or in your working area. Once you identify or you, you know, reveal yourself as a social work in the community, they think you as a god that you will solve all your problems.

And after years and years of gap, also, if they got any problem, they will call you and said, ma'am, I'm having this problem, please solve my problem. So that kind of pressure is always there in Nepal. They don't have that, you know, system like in foreign, that, okay, this is time we are working with a client and the case is done and the referral is done. But those things doesn't work here. Once you know some client, they will be attached lifelong. So there's an expectation that you just can't switch off and it's really hard to maintain those boundaries. Yeah.

Do you have any really good mentors? You mentioned your friend, but maybe other people that you've spoken with, is that how did they kind of work through those problems? Actually, I don't have, I was like first batch of masters in social work in Nepal. So my friends, most of them are in foreign countries. and those who are here, they are in teaching profession, not really working in an organization like me. So I have really found anyone working social worker in the organization. And I have been some psychologist friend,

but they are not the foreign education or foreign professional. They are guided by the Niple's context, cultural, social, and at the end they will, you know, take. out all their rooted belief systems, though they are educated and though they are psychologists, at the end they will bring their belief system and encounter you. So we lack that things in Nepal also, even as a professional social worker or as a psychologist also. So there's not really much of a profile or a capacity to challenge the system. It sounds like people continue just to do what's expected of them, even though it's just going to make

them unable to sustain that sort of work. And you spend, you know, four or five years studying to do what you're doing and you're about to undertake a lot more years of research and study. And you think if I'm, I understand why you're having this conflict of confidence or just a difficulty to understand. Is this something that I can do? Because why am I spending all this time doing something if it's making me miserable? And that's really hard. It's hard to keep your eye on the prize and say, I understand why I'm doing this, but some days it's really, really hard. Yeah.

Even told my professor one time, well, I was working, I was breaking down and I asked, I just went to college and told my professor, I studied everything provided in this master's in social work course, but when I went in the field and implemented, it doesn't even match one person because the course was designed for foreign U.S. and Australia. not for Nepal best. So this is not working out and I'm burning out. And he said to me, like, it's just beginning. You study properly.

You do PhD. Then you write a book. You do a research and provide intervention and context for Nepal. So that was his answer. And I was, okay, okay, now. Okay, I'll do that then. That's pretty disappointing. That's the reception that you got, that that's, the response is just try harder, basically.

Yeah, and even when I was doing master's, we don't have professor. So we, our college, they did online classes and our lecturer was provided from somewhere from Australia, somewhere from India. So that way we completed our master's in social work because we don't have any lecturer or teachers doing PhD in social work or master's in social work. So really there were any members, faculty members from social work. So that was also, you know, big gap. And we were not able to practice or implement what we have started in the real context of Nepal.

Yeah, but now there are many, you know, lectures coming back from foreign countries to Nepal and teaching in bachelor's and master's colleges. Now it's improving. But in my time, there were no lecturer. or faculty members from our social work field. Yeah, yeah, which gives you even less confidence that it's sustainable in Nepal, because if they've all gone overseas, what experience do they have? How can they tell you that it's going to be okay?

I think I would probably question that myself. Do you have anyone going through at the same time as you completing their PhD? Do you have any sort of peers, or are you the only one right now? I have some friends, but they are from different faculties. Some are from Norse background and sociology background. So from my felt, I'm only the one right now. There are other friends, but I don't know, they are just lost in their own world, and we really talk or discuss about our education or research.

Yeah, because PhD can be such a lonely world. You're literally the only one. You can't talk to anyone about what you're going through and have them understand. Yeah. Wow. Okay. What's been going well for you? What do you enjoy about the process, whether it's about working in the mental health field or about studying or doing research?

What keeps you going and what keeps you interested? Yeah. The mean is like, you know, when I was child, you know, we don't have any, you know, social worker. if there is any violence or, you know, there will be no one coming for you to rescue or there will be no one, even your neighbor won't be coming to your family issue. So that time I always felt, you know, if there is in future when I'll grow up, if there is any problem with anyone, I'll go and help there. But I don't know how because people won't allow random people and come to solve their issue. So I always thought I'll be, you know, someone who will help others. And now I get that, you know, one profession, which is social worker, which exactly do what I wanted to do. And whenever I help and whenever I solve the problems or whenever I counseling someone, when they get, you know, benefited from my effort, I always get to sleep peacefully and my heart, you know, it always feel happier. That makes me motivated. And always, you know, having so much of problem.

tensions, issues, guild. But even if I saw one case, I feel motivated and I feel so thankful for myself, okay, you become, you know, happy or you become source of happiness to some other people. So that thinking or that statement in my mind makes me always motivated to work. Yeah, it reminds you why you started doing this in the first time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And what other support do you need? It sounds like you have a wonderful loving family

and you've got a few good friends that you can reach out to. What are your resources and your networks? My main motivation is my professor, a margander baboiser. He always motivated me to study and provided me whatever the resource I needed. He's the one. and my front circles, maybe I'm extroverted person, so there are, you know, I have enough of

friends from every faculty and if I need any help, they are always willing to help me. So I think I have pretty good resource comparing to my other friends. And while you're studying, while you're doing your PhD, do you have any time, any scope to do even just one day or two days a week of that work that you've really? enjoy that can kind of keep you focused on the purpose? Yeah, it's Netflix. Whenever I'm a burnout, like it's always Netflix, which make my mind clear and I watch movies,

always inspiring movies I watch or, you know, horror movies. So that both make me, you know, my mind cool and refresh and motivates me to go to my work. I see. distracts you. Yeah. And outside of the PhD, do you still do any part-time work or anything else? Or you're purely focused on the PhD right now? No, currently I'm doing part-time in a new saddle organization.

And it works for leprosy people. And they have factory over there and old age home inside the compound where the leprosy people design and make the car. from Nepali made thread. Like handicrafts. Yeah, yeah, handicraft, exactly. They make different varieties of things and they sell to different countries

or through online or the production or like they get demand from other countries, especially from Switzerland. So and there is old age home also. The old age who are victim of leprosy and I do counseling to them, even to the factory workers who are suffering. or from leprosy. So it's part time. So whenever there is

keys or they need some counseling, they will call me or they will inform me and I visit them and do my part. Wow, that sounds so rewarding. That actually sounds really lovely. Yeah. And is it the situation where there's a formal counseling room or is it, because I know that a lot of people who do therapy, they tell me that it's easy to do or maybe the conversation flows a bit better when someone's engaged in an activity. So you might be walking on a beach and doing therapy or walking in nature or driving a car. Do you go into the factory while they're working? Let's say they're working on a rug and you're talking to them while they're working or is it completely separate in a

separate room? It's completely in separate room but because the like idea of going outside and talking and still we are beneficiaries, they are not open to it and they are not open to even mental health. to counseling so they call me doctor so they see me as not this counseling doctor or they see me as not the what you call that doctor you got my point

yeah yeah yeah so they don't even want to talk about mental health if we talk about mental health they think I may call them as a mad people or they feel they are mad people so she's talking with me so there is still stigma you know so I have to take

different approaches and like I'm helping you they are just not open to it the concept of it and we have taken like I call them in my counseling room and we said them like we are just

having normal conversation we never said them that we are having counseling because they are not able to take those words or they are able to understand that word so in our context we are still not open to psychology, not open to mental health, still there is a visit in their heart.

Okay. That's still a problem that they're facing. And I guess that's why they're all put together in one place is because there is still such a stigma against contagion and that sort of thing or even just class and position in society. Okay. And how else do you spend your time? What do you, you've got Netflix and things that you,

do to fill your cup and what else do you enjoy doing that's not social work? While you ask this question, I was questioning myself. It's been years, I don't know what's my hobby or what I enjoy doing. So I think I need to ask myself, sit down and find out. Because you've been so focused on your career and now your family and now your study and you really haven't had an opportunity to think, what is it that I need? I think that's typical of most new mums and probably most mums in general. But yeah, especially now while you're questioning, is this the right decision? I feel like it's really important to come back to your why and how do I keep doing it?

How do I make it worthwhile for me to continue? We were talking before we started recording. You've got a friend who's mutual to the podcast, Risha. do you think maybe when your boy's older, do you think you would maybe travel and work in a different country? Is that an option for you? Yeah, I was like, before having a baby, I was like thinking I talked with Richard many times. And my, you know, I was always confused. I asked her also.

I have worked here in Nepal, in various biggest positions, like executive director as a call center. And if I come there and we don't have professional. license system over here in Nepal and the course and the practices are different from our country over there and she told me that you have to work though you have experienced this much but when you come here you have to come and work from ground level so that was her you know thing to me and my head was like blasting i did so much thing from past 12 years and i have to start there from judo so i was having that dilemma and confusion the education i was questioning the education system so i don't know and i i told her if i get the work which i'm doing here my level then i'll

probably come there and but she said it's a little hard what you are expecting is very you know difficult to get it so i drop my plan to come over there yeah yeah if the system in australia It doesn't talk to the system in Nepal. It is really hard. And you think, yeah, exactly. Why have I done all this study and experience just to have to start all over again? That would just be soul destroying, I think. Yeah.

So, you know, I feel like failure, my education, my career, because it's not matching in my own country. And if I wanted to grow uprode also, I have to start from zero. So what's the count of my experience and my education and all my hard work from past to have fair? So that difference is, you know, killing me and why the other countries like Australia or even US or whatever the country is, why my study, my work is not appreciated, why the, you know, typical system is only counted.

So I have having those kind of thoughts and I don't know where to say, what to do. I don't know. Yeah, no, I understand that. Let's say everything works out really well. You continue with your study, you do some amazing research that ends up having a wonderful contribution to the field of social work. What would you like to do with it? Do you want to go back and work in that area? Do you want to continue teaching maybe at the university?

What's the end goal for you? I always, you know, used to tell my professor that I never ever, you know, wanted to go to teaching profession. And when lockdown happened, my friend, you know, asked me to take replacement for him. for a week and I said I never have a teaching you know experience and it's my you know hateish thing to do but it said for one week and when I went there and after like taking class for one week I felt that actually I wanted to be a teacher which I was awaiting from my you know past so many years and I went for one week but I ended up teaching for two years And then I felt, you know, so I have so many experience in social work field.

I have the journey of real social work in the different areas more than other of my friends. So I will, you know, teach these all my experiences to the new upcoming social workers so they can work properly, which I was not able to get in my time. So that was my, you know, contribution. I realize that time it's not only by helping client all the time. Sometimes it can be giving your knowledge and experience to the upcoming social worker who are more fresh, we have got more knowledge and more resources than which I get in my time. So after realizing that, okay, teaching experience is taking classes or teaching at university is my end goal. So I'm looking for that part and I was waiting.

waiting for, you know, vacancy to open in university. I already waited for one year, but it's not opening till now. So my goal is to, you know, to become a lecturer and it can be abroad also or it can be exchange lecturer program also. So there is a wide range of platform after becoming a lecturer. I don't have to be limited. It can be national, international, everywhere. That's wonderful. I'm so great. that you've shared this experience with me and helped me understand that you were saying early on the concept of social work in Nepal is really wide reaching. So there is so much theoretically that can be done as a social worker and so many people look to social work to help solve their problems.

But really the effects of all that challenging work long term is really difficult. It is impacting your ability and to continue doing the work. There's not enough support. The systems just aren't speaking to each other. And perhaps the other thing I'm hearing is that the courses that you're completing are not preparing you for real life situations. They're saying theoretically, a social worker should be able to do this and this and this. But once you get out into the real world, there are no boundaries.

You're not taught how to look after yourself. And so maybe your contribution, in addition to all this wonderful research that you're doing, is to be able to support those upcoming social workers and share your knowledge. And that is your impact for everyone in Nepal. If you're especially working for the National Association, you have capacity not just as a lecturer on a ground level

with the students that are coming through the system, but also hopefully you can demonstrate to the wider national body that things need to change. And here are some suggestions. Here is what I know. and here is how I think it can change so that all the work you've done so far isn't for nothing and you can continue doing great work. So that's what I see.

But, you know, there's a lot of time between now and when you finish. And obviously a lot depends on how you go with your submission of your research proposal and what they come back with and how you can sustain the energy and the passion that you have for it. But I hope you can stay in touch and, yeah, just see where it takes you. Okay, thank you so much, Hesne for inviting me. This past one month, I've really been in a very difficult situation,

and I was thinking I was not able to speak with you all, so I will be not able to share my all this feeling also, but I did it somehow. I don't know how much I could. You know, I was thinking so much to share and, you know, give you, but due to my own mental trauma and all those things, I hope I could share some important things to all the audience

and hopefully we can talk in the future also. Thank you for inviting me this talking with you and inviting me in your podcast in my real difficult situation. It motivates it motivated me and okay, thank victory you can do more. Don't be, you know, hopeless. So your podcast also play very important role. I don't know in this we plan for, you know, so months ago. I don't know, this is right time for me.

I needed that motivation. And, okay, through your podcast also, I feel like, okay, you mean something. So that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm so grateful for you for doing this. And I'm so happy that I could hear about your experience because it is important.

It does matter. So thank you so much for sharing. Thank you. Thanks for joining me this week. If you'd like to continue this discussion or ask anything of either myself, for victory, please visit my anchor page at anchor.fm.fm.com. Social Work Spotlight. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky, or you can email SW Spotlight Podcast at gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you. Next episode's guest is Selva, a psychiatric social worker based in Chennai, India. He works as an

employment coordinator at the Indian Schizophrenic Research Foundation, and his focus is on helping individuals with lived experience of mental illness in their recovery. independence and social inclusion through supported employment. I release a new episode every two weeks. Please subscribe to my podcast so you'll notified when this next episode is available. See you then.