Pushpa Basnet – CNN Hero of the Year 2012

Twenty-nine year old Pushpa Basnet was named the CNN HERO of the year 2012 on 2nd December in Los Angeles. Basnet has been providing housing, education and medical care for the children living inside Nepali prisons with their parents since the age of twenty-one. The Early Childhood Development Center run by Pushpa will receive a grant of $250,000. In addition to that each of the Top 10 CNN Heroes have received $50,000 in recognition of their work.

The star-studded evening that took place in Hollywood was attended by Susan Sarandon, Miranda Cosgrove, 50 Cent, Ne-Yo and more.  To see Pushpa win this should be an encouragement for all of us folks. Someone so young has been involved in bringing change in different ways, bringing happiness and touching many lives; there is no excuse for us. We are all capable of devoting our few hours to do something for the betterment of our society. Let’s stop making excuses saying, ‘we don’t have time, I’ll do it when I’m older or I don’t know the right people’. If you want to then you can.

Very very glad that the huge online campaign paid off. Kudos to everyone that voted for Pushpa. Her win is the second time that a Nepali has bagged the title of the CNN HERO. Founder of Maiti Nepal, Anuradha Koirala was the CNN Hero of the Year 2010.