As part of Global Voices’ fundraising challenge campaign called “Behind the Story,” we will feature 30 contributors in 30 days. In this series, we ask each contributor about a particular story they have written and why working on it mattered to them. These reflections from these contributors remind us why it is important to ensure that the Global Voices Newsroom is sustainable.

In this insight, Sanjib Chaudhary from Nepal shares thoughts on why working on the story “Indigenous Nepali Language With Only Two Fluent Speakers Sees Pages of Hope in Newly Launched Dictionary” was especially meaningful.

The story that I’m proud of writing was about an Indigenous Nepali language with only two fluent speakers. After I wrote the story, Subhashish Panigrahi who led GV in Odia, came over to film Gyani Maiya Sen, one of the fluent Kusunda speakers with the support of National Geographic. I then wrote about the conversation I had with Gyani Maiya Sen, one of the last speakers of a dying Nepali language. After the passing of Gyani Maiya, I wrote ‘Hope for dying Nepali language wanes as one of the last fluent speakers passes away at 85.’ The press from all over the world came asking me for Gyani Maiya’s picture, since I was the one who took her last photo.

Global Voices is a platform that provides a space for our community to share stories and perspectives about their community and issues they care about through the accompaniment of a supportive editorial team that assists each contributor to craft their stories.

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