Nimi Sherpa, currently residing in Finland, proposed feeding the street dogs of Ilam on her birthday. Volunteers from Ilam Green fed 112 street dogs and provided free treatment to three of them. Rajesh Parajuli has called on the local government to allocate an annual budget for street dog management. The innocent creatures spending their nights on the rainy streets of Ilam had no idea that someone across seven seas in Finland was thinking of them.
A distance of nearly 4,000 miles, with different routes and climates, geography separated them, but a shared feeling united Ilam and Finland last week. On the evening of Baishakh 21 (early May), Rajesh Parajuli, administrator of the popular Ilam Green Facebook page, received a call from an international number. The caller was Nimi Sherpa, originally from My Jogmai Rural Municipality-1, Naya Bazar Shankhabung, who is currently working abroad in Finland.
With a formal greeting, Nimi emotionally said, “Sir, seeing the condition of street dogs in Ilam broke my heart. People usually get treats on their birthdays, but this time, I thought we should remember those voiceless creatures.” For Parajuli, who had dedicated himself to humanity and served through Ilam Green at old age homes, orphanages, centers for intellectual disabilities, and hospitals, this was a deeply touching and entirely new proposal. It was the first time anyone celebrated their birthday by helping neglected dogs.
