WOMEN FOR WOMEN NEPAL
Women for Women – Nepal
I first visited Nepal in March 2012.
In 2013, I created a group tour called Journey of the Heart for a group of 14. As part of that trip we worked with an orphanage in Kathmandu to take the children on a three-day holiday with members of the group connecting with the children.
In 2014, through my business and clients support we supported 14 families to receive either a pair of pigs or goats. The program was run by the High Himalayan Community Project-Nepal Rasuwa District(HHCPN) and allowed very poor families to educate their children and have money to live on.
In that trip I heard about the problem of thousands of girls each year being taken from rural areas thinking they were getting a job to support their family but actually finding themselves in countries like India in brothels with little hope. I kept asking what can I do to help? In 2016, I contacted my friend Hari at the HHCPN and told him I had $200 for someone in his village that needed help. The money was given to a woman whose family had always been nomadic Sharman. A child in the family was going to attend school – the first to ever go to school. They couldn’t be nomadic any more and the woman took the $200 I sent and got a micro loan from HHCPN and bought a bull. This created an income as the bull serviced all the local cows for a fee. I decided that was the way to change the fate of girls and created a program where woman would receive $200 to start their own business.
In 2018, with the support of my community, we helped 10 women start their own business.
In 2019, I took a group of 9 ladies to Nepal and we helped another 11 women start their own business.
In 2020, I will again be offering women the chance to support another 10 women to start their own business.
Apart from the work with the ladies I have also done volunteer teaching at Ghormu school which is in the Rasuwa District of Nepal. I had just finished 4 weeks volunteer teaching in March 2015 when ten days later the earthquake hit and devastated the Rasuwa District where I had been living and working. I organised fundraising and raised $5000 for Ghormu School to be rebuilt. The government doesn’t cover the cost of building schools and the extra funds necessary -$25000 came from an overseas donator. I’m happy to say Ghormu School was rebuilt and reopened in May 2019. On my last two trips the school has received many books and now boasts a small library.
My dream is to create a training centre for the woman of the Rasuwa District where they can learn skills that can be used to create an income. They are bright and intelligent woman seeking support to create incomes that stop the cycle they have been stuck in for a very long time. Sue Oliver
The video link below has interviews with ladies who have been part of the sponsorship program.
