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Dear Friends, Ram Adhikari’s retirement celebration this week was filled with deep emotions. Above all, an immense sense of gratitude, recognizing Ram’s consummate leadership, heartfelt guidance, dedication and compassion for the countless lives he touched. In preparation for Ram’s retirement, Mamata Rai, our Director of Social Services, asked the HIO community to share reflections about Ram. With notes coming from all corners of the globe, the outpouring of love he received was remarkable. It’s clear that Ram has left a lasting impression on all who are connected to our HIO family.  Binita, Shreejana, Mamata, Manisha, Samjhana, Sukrima and Rupesh are all former HIO students who blossomed into valued staff and board members for HIO-Nepal through Ram’s strong leadership and kind heart. Throughout his 30 year career, Ram always encouraged our HIO girls and their mothers to be their best selves. He was often the valued and beloved father figure that was missing in the lives of those whose own fathers had abandoned their family. An excellent listener, Ram looked for the spark in each of our girls that could lead her toward a more fulfilling future. He helped them approach life’s challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Ram has made Hands in Outreach much of what it is today. Over the past six months, he’s worked hard to transfer a lifetime of boots-on-the-ground experience to our tireless social work team in Nepal. Several of our rising HIO staff members were sponsored children themselves. Raised in the Ram tradition, they’ve been encouraged and inspired by his steadfast ideal that the power of education transforms lives. They’re smart, strong and brave and firmly committed to carrying Ram’s unmistakable legacy forward. As he gracefully steps down from HIO leadership, Ram has instilled in our HIO community an unwavering ethic that reaches for excellence, innovation and service above self. Ram will forever and always be the face of HIO. We’re humbled and ever grateful. With loving gratitude, Ricky and Laura  Bimala Rawal is an ICU nurse in a major NYC hospital who’s paying her gift of education forward as an HIO sponsor. Her words beautifully express the sentiments of so many of her HIO sisters.
I want you to know, Ram, how deeply grateful I am for your presence in my life. A young girl from a remote village has traveled the world, built a life of her own, and now supports her family. The ripple effects of your kindness and support extend far beyond what you can see, profoundly touching not just my life, but the lives of other people around me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for shaping my life in such a meaningful way.
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