PUSHPA BASNET: My kids
Every time, people used to look at them in a negative way.
Oh, you know, they are running a small orphanage
or shelter that looks after the kids [inaudible].
But always, I had that passion or dream
that people looked at our butterfly home, they would say,
whose house is that?
Is that a resort?
ANDERSON COOPER: With the prize money
she received as 2012's CNN Hero of the Year,
Pushpa took the first step in making her dream come true--
she bought a plot of land.
The property was high above the congested and poverty-stricken
areas of Kathmandu, and a short walk
from the children's school.
PUSHPA BASNET: Kids should be close to the nature,
because, you know, all this childhood
life they were spending in the prison, in a big ward.
ANDERSON COOPER: In 2015, the home
that Pushpa had long imagined was on its way to completion.
Four new structures were up, and construction was in full swing,
with all of Pushpa's earnings and dreams
invested in the project.
And then, the unthinkable.
[rattling]
PUSHPA BASNET: Suddenly, what I hear was, you know, people
were screaming, "Earthquake!
Earthquake!"
[shouting indistinctly]
ANDERSON COOPER: On April 25th 2015,
a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal.
PUSHPA BASNET: My van was moving up and down.
People were coming in the road, you know.
I just jumped off from the van and I said, no, I need to go,
I need to go and save my kids, you know?
ANDERSON COOPER: More than 8,000 people were killed.
Hundreds of thousands were left homeless.
Entire villages were flattened.
PUSHPA BASNET: I could not even think anything.
I was like, this is it.
It's the end of our world, and it's the end of our family.
ANDERSON COOPER: Remarkably, all 42 of Pushpa's children
survived.
In the days, weeks, and months following the earthquake,
Pushpa and her kids took shelter under a tarp.
Pushpa learned that her new butterfly
dream home was destroyed.
PUSHPA BASNET: 45 seconds, everything fell down.
Everything.
My dreams were all scattered.
It was gone.
[music playing]
I literally sat down and cried like anything.
I could see my dream coming up.
Such a beautiful-- it was taking a shape.
It was a huge impact on myself, but I could not
show it, because I don't want it to prove
that I'm a weak person.
- [singing]
ANDERSON COOPER: Pushpa says she felt hopeless.
She'd faced challenges before, but this time she didn't
know how she would rebuild.
[indistinct chatter]
Displaced with 42 kids to care for,
Pushpa says it was ultimately the children
who rekindled her hope.
PUSHPA BASNET: We stayed in a field
for almost three, four month.
Every day, I used to see my kids in the field.
You know, they were playing, singing, dancing.
- [SINGING
PUSHPA BASNET: And I think I had a hope
that my kids all are safe, I'm safe, my family are safe.
I'm a strong person, you know.
I have to be strong for myself and for my 40
kids living with me.
[cheering]
[clapping]
The life is something that if it's gone, it's gone.
The house is something we can redo it.
ANDERSON COOPER: Resilience and determination have
long defined Pushpa's life.
She was a 21-year-old college student
when she first learned about the plight of kids
living in Nepal's prisons.
Alarmed by the discovery, she soon took action.
[indistinct chatter]
Pushpa started a nonprofit called ECDC,
Early Childhood Development Center,
to care for the kids of inmates.
She started with just four children in 2005,
and grew the program to care for more than 40.
From Kathmandu, is Pushpa Basnet.
[cheering]
She'd been at it for more than a decade,
with little support from local government or the public,
when CNN Heroes honored her.
PUSHPA BASNET: This is for my children,
and this is for back to my country, Nepal.
And thank you so much for everyone who voted for me
and who believed in my dream.
Thank you.
ANDERSON COOPER: The global attention
she received when she was announced
as CNN Hero of the Year was something altogether new.
PUSHPA BASNET: After becoming the CNN Hero of 2012,
you know, after coming back to Nepal,
everything changed in my life.
The first thing I encountered in the airport was my father.
I've never got a hug from my father.
I think that was the first time in my life
that my father hugged me.
And maybe he felt that, oh, I'm proud of you, what you've done.
[non-english speech]
ANDERSON COOPER: Pushpa says the spotlight
inspired her to work harder.
Since 2012, she's been able to substantially reduce the number
of kids living inside prisons.
[indistinct chatter]
She also offers scholarships, and works with the Nepalese
government to improve conditions for kids living
in prisons with their parents.
PUSHPA BASNET: We've been working with 27 prison,
but now our government are more aware of giving
a right for the kids living inside the prison.
So almost they have to travel for two days to come here,
you know, by bus or by walking, you know,
to get a better future.
But we make sure that they are connected to their parents,
because that's the most important thing, you know?
ANDERSON COOPER: After the earthquake destroyed
her new home, Pushpa's story of hope and loss
reached millions around the world.
In 2015, a charity group in Germany
stepped in and gave Pushpa the money
she needed to rebuild the house.
[kids squealing]
On February 3rd, 2016, Pushpa and her children moved in.
[kids squealing]
PUSHPA BASNET: This is my dream world,
and this is my dream world for my kids.
We have a separate building for boys,
a separate building for girls.
- [singing]
PUSHPA BASNET: And we have [inaudible] room,
we have library, computer room, a study room.
And we have a kitchen and an open dining hall.
We have a garden.
We have a solar panel, which runs the butterfly
home with the solar.
And we have a vegetable garden.
Definitely I think the most important thing,
we have that love within ourselves, you know?
ANDERSON COOPER: Today, Pushpa is 33 years old.
She and her kids are stronger than ever,
and have plans to open their home to even
more children in the future.
PUSHPA BASNET: Yay!
[non-english speech]
So I think the stigma has changed.
Now, people say that look at these kids,
they have such a fortune life, you know?
They are blessed to have a good education,
good environment, good family and everything, you know?
ANDERSON COOPER: For Pushpa Basnet,
the last 12 years of hard work has paid off.
Through her various programs, she has helped educate and care
for more than 150 kids.
She may be a CNN hero, but to her children,
she's Mamu, a Nepali word for mother.
And Mamu has no plans to stop.
PUSHPA BASNET: [non-english speech]
[laughing]
When someone calls me a CNN Hero of the Year 2012,
are you Pushpa, when they call me up, I do blush out.
I do really blush out.
My face color changes.
[clapping and singing]
My kids are my hero, because they are the one who really
inspire me to do this work.
[clapping and singing]
The hope that I have for kids living in the prison
or living under the poverty in Nepal, that all [inaudible]
should have a normal life, a better education,
a better environment for them.
I would expect them to get a better
education so that tomorrow they can have a better future.
But the most important thing is that what we have to create
is a happy, smiley face on these kids.
- Bye.
PUSHPA BASNET: For them to see that, if we dream,
if we have that passion, we can change the world, you know?
So I think the smile and the hope and the dream
that they have, I think yes, that really
keeps me inspired to do more.
- We love Mamu.
ANDERSON COOPER: Pushpa has been a joy to follow.
Her laughter is contagious, and her work is improving
the lives of so many children.
If you know someone who should be a CNN hero,
you can nominate them right now at cnnheroes.com.