Rubin Luitel

Rubin is an undergraduate student at Tribhuvan University in Nepal, studying Computer Science and Information Technology. He is drawn to tech because of its relatively low barrier to entry and the vast opportunities it creates to collaborate across borders to address global problems. Rubin also works part time at British Council Nepal as an Exams Invigilator, leveraging his technical skills to maintain the integrity of international testing standards.

 

An alumni of Bright Horizon Children’s Home & School (BHCHS — a former partner of Healing Together), Rubin attended Healing Together’s first cohort of the Life Skills & Leadership Development Program for youth from 2015 to 2017, mentored by BHCHS teacher, Suresh Chhetry (who has since founded and serves as Executive Director of Healing Together Nepal).

 

In 2020-2021, Rubin taught Math classes at BHCHS to help students catch up with their skills, following school closure during lockdowns. He also mentored 10th graders, encouraging them to study A levels and supporting them with US college applications.  His mentee students have since been accepted to and awarded scholarships to Princeton University and Caldwell University, both located in New Jersey, US.

 

In his leisure time, Rubin hones his technical skills and broadens his global awareness through reading, podcasts, videos, and programming projects. He also plays the bamboo flute and has studied Nepali folk music as well as North Indian classical music, facilitating flute classes with BHCHS students over the years. 

 

Rubin shares his perspectives about Mental Health: I think Nepali society can benefit from building a culture that offers a non-judgmental environment for people to talk about their stresses and anxieties. Ours is a country that has faced a major earthquake, an economic blockade, a global pandemic and a massive uptick in youth emigration all in the span of a decade, so I am sure people have plenty to talk about. What’s holding them back might in part have to do with the stigma attached with discussing personal issues openly and in part with the fear of judgment. These are embodied in expressions such as, “family’s issues should be worked out within the family” and “what will the neighbors think if they hear about this?”

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But sweeping things under the rug usually doesn’t offer a pathway to recovery. Increasing our emotional vocabulary does. Understanding why certain setbacks affect us more profoundly than others does. Acknowledging that whatever we are going through is a valid human experience does. Being able to precisely talk about what we are feeling can be empowering. So can be the ability to view our problems as being solvable. These skills are much easier to practice when there is trust and empathy between members of the community.

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In my own life, I try to support people around me by periodically checking in on them, sometimes just listening to what they have to say and responding, “yeah right”, “that makes sense” etc. At other times, I try to brainstorm with them the societal context that may have led them to react to their troubles in a certain way, and share my thoughts as to how they might get to a better place.

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