She shared that her experiences growing up in a slum inspired her to strive for a stable financial future.
Pinki Haryan has gone a long way from the days she spent begging and foraging for food on the streets of Mcleodganj with her parents. Now that she is a licensed Chinese doctor, Haryan is getting ready for a test that will allow her to work as a doctor in India. Her journey from abject poverty to pursuing a medical degree reflects her perseverance and the help she got during her hard work.
The first time Lobsang Jamyang, a Tibetan monk and the director of the Tong-Len Charitable Trust in Dharamshala, saw Haryan begging on the streets was in 2004. Following her identification during a visit to the Charan Khud slum cluster, Jamyang embarked on a quest to convince her parents, particularly her father to permit her to go to school. Following hours of convincing, Kashmiri Lal, her father, finally gave in.
Dayanand Public School in Dharamshala was then when Haryan was enlisted. In 2004 the trust opened a hostel for impoverished children, and she was among the first students to reside there. Despite her first longing for her family, she didn't let it stop her from focusing on her studies since she knew this would be her ticket out of poverty.
President of the non-profit Umang Foundation, which has collaborated extensively with Jamyang for almost 20 years, Ajay Srivastava, praised Haryan's dedication to her education. She passed the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), which is required for enrollment in Indian medical programs, after completing her senior secondary schooling. Her academic success did not change the fact that private medical colleges were financially unaffordable because of their costly fees.
In 2018, Haryan was able to get admission to a medical college in China with the help of the Tong-Len Charitable Trust in the United Kingdom. After earning her MBBS, she recently moved back to Dharamshala and is currently preparing for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), which is required to practice medicine in India.
Talking about her past and challenges, Haryan said, "Poverty was the biggest struggle since childhood. It was painful to see my family in distress. As I got into school, I had an ambition to become successful in life." She shared that her experiences growing up in a slum inspired her to strive for a stable financial future.
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