The character arc of Maggie Doyne

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Raised in Mendham Borough, New Jersey, by a father who gave up his job to be at home and a mother who worked in property. Between then and now sit years of babysitting, a gap year taken in 2005 after school, volunteering at a children's home in northern India, a journey into Nepal during a ceasefire in the civil war, a six year old girl breaking stones in a dry riverbed, school fees paid out of her own savings, five thousand dollars of babysitting money spent on land in the Surkhet valley at nineteen, a foundation set up in 2007, a national award in 2015, a book in 2022 and a film in 2024. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Maggie Doyne?

Babysitting money at nineteen, and a school in Nepal.

She grew up in a New Jersey town with her parents and her sister. Her father gave up managing a food shop to be at home after she was born and her mother worked in property. She went to the local high school and babysat in her spare time, which is the most ordinary detail on this page and turns out to be the most important one.

After finishing school in 2005 she took a gap year rather than going straight to university, and spent part of it volunteering at a children's home in northern India. There she became friends with a refugee from Nepal, and during a ceasefire in the Nepalese civil war she went with her to visit her home village. In Nepal she met a six year old girl called Hima who was surviving on the few rupees she earned breaking stones in a dry riverbed and selling them. She paid for Hima's tuition, uniform and books, then did the same for more children, and then telephoned her parents and asked them to send the five thousand dollars she had saved from babysitting.

With that money, with the local community and with donations from elsewhere, she and her co-founder Top Malla, a Nepali she had met in India, bought land in the Surkhet valley. They set up the BlinkNow Foundation in 2007. It now runs a school, a children's home, a women's centre, a health clinic, a home for older girls and a new children's village, and it is used as a model by other organisations, with an annual summit and a leadership programme for people doing similar work. She was named a national hero by a television network in 2015, published a book in 2022 and was the subject of a documentary of the same name in 2024.

The moments

Maggie Doyne's timeline.

The 2000s

~2003

Babysitting in Mendham

Everyday. The babysitting money is the only reason any of the rest of this happened.

Jun 2005

A gap year, not university

Milestone, and it changed everything. Eighteen, and she went to India instead of to college.

Dec 2005

Into Nepal, during a ceasefire

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A friend from a children's home, a ceasefire, and a village.

~2006

A girl breaking stones

Milestone, and it changed everything. One child, one riverbed, and a set of school fees.

1 Mar 2006

Spend the savings

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: send the money, taken, or go home to college. The foundation was set up in 2007 and now runs a school, a children's home, a women's centre and a clinic.

~2006

Five thousand dollars

Milestone, and it changed everything. She rang home and asked them to wire her life savings to Nepal.

~2006

They buy the land

Milestone, and it changed everything. A field in Surkhet, bought by a nineteen year old and a man she had met in India.

~2007

BlinkNow

Milestone, and it changed everything. A school, a home, a clinic and a women's centre, all under one foundation.

The 2010s

~2014

A model others copy

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Other organisations now come to Surkhet to learn how it was done.

~2015

Named a hero

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Ten years from the gap year to a national award.

The 2020s

~2022

Between the Mountain and the Sky

Milestone, and it changed everything. A book, and then a film of the book, about the whole of it.

The Surkhet valley is where she lives now, and the first girl she paid school fees for is long since grown. What it has set moving is counted in children rather than dollars: a school, a home, a clinic and a village, all of it started by a nineteen year old who had five thousand dollars and no qualifications for any of it.

What she wrote

Books by Maggie Doyne

2022
Between the Mountain and the Sky
A mother's story of love, loss, healing and hope, and a documentary of the same name followed in 2024.

Your turn

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Hers took the money she had earned babysitting and bought a field in Nepal with it. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

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Maggie Doyne: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Maggie Doyne's character arc?

A New Jersey teenager who babysat for pocket money, took a gap year instead of going to university, met a six year old girl breaking stones in a Nepali riverbed, and at nineteen spent five thousand dollars of her savings on land for a school.

How did Maggie Doyne start working in Nepal?

On a gap year in 2005 she volunteered at a children's home in northern India, became friends with a refugee from Nepal, and travelled with her to her home village during a ceasefire in the civil war. She met a girl there called Hima and paid her school fees.

What is the BlinkNow Foundation by Maggie Doyne?

The organisation she founded in 2007 with her co-founder Top Malla. It supports the Kopila Valley School, a children's home, a women's centre, a health clinic, a home for older girls and a new children's village in Surkhet, Nepal.

Where did Maggie Doyne get the money?

From babysitting. At nineteen she telephoned her parents and asked them to send the five thousand dollars she had saved as a teenager. With that, the local community and donations from supporters, she and her co-founder bought land in the Surkhet valley.

What has Maggie Doyne written?

Between the Mountain and the Sky: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, Healing, and Hope, published in 2022. A documentary film of the same name, about her, was released in 2024. She was also named a CNN Hero in 2015.

Who is Top Malla to Maggie Doyne?

Her co-founder. He is a Nepali whom she met while volunteering in India, and who shares a commitment to caring for children from his home region. Together they bought the land and set up the foundation in 2007.

Where does this timeline of Maggie Doyne's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Maggie Doyne isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Maggie Doyne, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
BlinkNow Foundation, organisation records, founded 2007.
Publisher records for Between the Mountain and the Sky, 2022.