At 18, Nara Maya married into a poor family in Eastern Nepal.  Unable to cope with the hardship and poverty of her small village, Nara Maya and her husband ventured to Kathmandu in search of a better life.  In the city where respectable work for an illiterate woman is nearly nonexistent, she discovered ACP.  She joined as a knitter, while her husband found work as a porter.  Due to a health problem, Nara Maya was transferred to the painting unit, and then to the ceramics unit.  At first, her task was to stamp designs on the pottery, but she developed a fascination with the potters wheel.  ACP recognized her potential and so she was chosen for formal training in wheel operation.  Today, Nara Maya is self-sufficient, confident, and multi-skilled. All of her children are in school, they receive three square meals a day, and she currently out-earns her husband.