Wearing a white apron, Satyanarayan Safi's face was radiant as he entered the Rapti Institute of Health Sciences in Ghorahi. Safi, who got his name on a scholarship while working as a laborer, started his formal MBBS classes from Friday.

21-year-old Safi from Sripur village, Bariyarpatti Rural Municipality-2, Siraha, achieved success amidst poverty, deprivation and problems. He gave the MBBS entrance exam with hard work even while working as a laborer. Many people were surprised when his name came out.

The institute has welcomed him as the second batch of MBBS. He attracted everyone's attention at the 'white coat ceremony'. New friends and professors congratulated and encouraged him.

Safi got his name on a full scholarship in the MBBS entrance exam conducted by the Medical Education Commission on Kartik 15. When the results came out on November 24, not only him, but also his family and the entire village were shocked.

Safi, a member of the Dalit community, is in a very poor financial situation. His four-and-a-half-acre ghareri and the small hut in it are his property. His father Madhuri was in foreign employment in Qatar until three years ago. After that, he returned home and started working as a laborer. Safi's mother Sunita is a housewife. Safi is the eldest of four children.

He passed his SEE from the village's Janata Secondary (Technical) School, Bariyarpatti in 2077. In 2079, he passed class 12 in science from Araniko Secondary School in Biratnagar. After that, his desire to become a doctor did not let him live happily. In 2080, he went to Kathmandu to prepare for the entrance exam. He could not pass the exam the first time.

He succeeded in the second attempt. It was difficult for him to meet the expenses of commuting to Kathmandu for the entrance exam. He started working as a house construction worker. ‘I would wake up early in the morning and go to work. After returning from work, I would study until late at night,’ he said. ‘More than the worries of work, I was worried about studying.’

Even after his name came out, he had trouble getting admission. His mother asked a neighbor for a loan of 80,000 rupees. Then, he came to the Rapti Institute of Health Sciences on Poush 8 to get admission. 64,000 rupees had already been spent when he got admission. Even though he did not have to pay the monthly fee because he received a scholarship, the expenses for accommodation, food, transportation, and study materials still worry him.

He is worried about how his family, which has been earning a living through wages, will meet these expenses. ‘If you don’t work all day, it is difficult to get food in the evening. My expenses are going to put more stress on my parents,' he said, 'Some are also providing financial support. That will not be enough for a long time. It seems that the pressure of expenses will increase with studies.'