Hari Prasad Uprety: Equipped to make changes in the disability sector in Nepal

Hari was motivated to apply for his Scholarship after he heard from his friends and colleagues about the opportunity. He came to Australia hoping to explore more about disability and develop knowledge and skills. His goal was to help create a disability-friendly and disability-inclusive society.

Hari is proud of being an Australia Awards recipient and believes that it encouraged him to go beyond his perceived limits. “I have [had] really unique and amazing experiences in Australia,” he says.

Hari describes himself as “a person with stammering”. His experiences of stigma in Nepal, along with the associated consequences, led him to choose the Master of Disability Policy and Practice program. “Voluntarily I had been working with people with disability, especially with people with stammering, for about 15 years,” he says.

Hari says that his experience with his disability in Australia was encouraging and positive. He describes experiencing “a stimulating environment… to communicate with other people about my disability”, adding that in Australia “there is nothing different” between people living with this disability and those without it. “It is really encouraging,” he says. Hari believes that education in Australia supports the students to “explore themselves” and “make their career better and contribute to the development of society and their community”.