BlinkNow - Maggie Doyne
Most 18-year-old women dream about college, their friends, summer vacation, and what they’ll wear to a party on Friday night. Not New Jersey native Maggie Doyne. When Maggie was 18, she dreamed of helping one Nepalese girl break the cycle of poverty.
After high school, Maggie decided to take some time to see the world before entering college. While backpacking in the Himalayas, she met a destitute 6-year old girl named Hima. Touched by Hima and her story, Maggie decided to help Hima go to school: paying her tuition, uniform, and books. But there were more children to help, children that needed a home.
Helping one girl led to another and now, nine years later, Maggie lives in Surkhet, Nepal, and is the legal guardian of 50 children. Yes, you read that right: 50! The selflessness and commitment necessary to take on the responsibility of 50 kids is simply mind-blowing.
I wanted to understand how someone decides to live her life in service of others, especially at such a young age. I asked Maggie this question, and her response is a testament to her courage and conviction:
“This work resonates with my heart, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. I was so young, and with youth comes a sense of invincibility. I saw something I didn’t like, and I wanted to change it and in my young mind, I thought, ‘If I want it done, then I should do it. And if I don’t like the model, then I should change it. And if this isn’t the kind of world I want to live in, then I should make this a world I’m more proud of.’ I didn’t have a big, grand vision. I started with just one child and went from there.”
Since 2005, Maggie has worked tirelessly to go "from there." She is changing the model and positively impacting the world.She didn't stop with adopting 50 kids (and counting). Maggie and her team of "aunties and uncles" run a primary school for 350 children, a health clinic, a local women's center and - if that weren't already enough - have begun construction on a high school.
I asked Maggie where her motivation lies, She replied:
“I look at my children every single day. They are laughing and smiling, running around and acting silly, eating a meal at the dinner table, or cuddling together and watching a movie, and I think, ‘Oh my gosh, there are other kids just like them out there—with so much love and so much potential, just waiting to be found.’ If you have a child of your own, you understand. As hard as you try, you just can’t imagine your life without them. You’d give anything for them. In the bigger picture, when I look at us tackling poverty in our world, I see a very complex web that has to be unraveled. I could run a school but if all of my children are sick every day, I need a clinic. I can run a clinic, but if they’re not getting healthy food and staying nourished, then I need a lunch program and a garden. If the women in my community are struggling, then inevitably the children are too. We realized we needed to educate and empower the women to improve their home lives and prevent kids from becoming orphans in the first place. It’s all a puzzle that needs to be solved and worked with, tweaked and fine-tuned. It has to be organic and adaptable, and it has to be grassroots.”
Maggie’s ability to live in the moment with her children, and yet holistically work to end the cycle of poverty for an entire community is beyond inspirational for me. I wanted to know who inspires her. The answer?
“My parents. They worked hard and gave me the most amazing childhood a girl could wish for, and without that as a base, I wouldn’t be able to give my own children the childhood and the family I want for them.”
Maggie’s nonprofit, BlinkNow, is a testament to what happens when just ONE individual decides to Live Greatly. Earlier this year, the Dalai Lama awarded Maggie with the Unsung Heroes Award for her commitment to improving the lives of individuals in Nepal. For most of us, Maggie’s story can seem a bit unreal, especially if we’re new to the giving path. We’re not all meant to adopt 50 kids, but hopefully after hearing her story, we’re moved to do things a little differently throughout our day, week, or year. I want to thank Maggie and her team for being an inspiration to the rest of us as we try and live a notch greater. To learn more about Maggie and her work in Nepal, please visit her website: www.blinknow.org
