By Lisa Lyons | U.S. Director
First things first: ETC wants to offer another huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported this Finish Strong/Jump-Start project back on Giving Tuesday. We raised more than $13,000 including incentive funds for this project alone, on that one day alone - representing a top 1% finish among all eligible projects!
There's still time to make a year-end gift! Your generosity makes such an important difference in the lives of rural Nepal's women and their families. Below are just a couple of examples:
1) Earlier in the program cycle, we offered literacy and numeracy training for more than 800 women. Since then, we've been offering many opportunities for them to keep up their newly gained skills - including the creation of several Community Learning Centers (combination libraries + meeting spaces) and numerous trainings/workshops on a variety of topics related to entrepreneurship and agriculture. One particularly fun way in which we celebrate the importance of literacy is through our annual International Literacy Day activities. International Literacy Day is also National Education Day in Nepal. ETC's women's group members come together to sing and dance, read poems and tell stories, and play games. They are justifiably proud of all they have accomplished, and pleased to have the opportunity to celebrate it with their family, friends, and neighbors!
2) Poultry farming is very popular among our women's group members. Chickens and ducks are relatively easy to care for and provide protein in the form of eggs and meat, and also enable the women to improve their families' financial situations significantly. Forty-five women who participated in one of ETC's poultry management training opportunities earlier in 2019 have been able to sell their poultry for an average of more than $150 each, which in many cases represents an increase of 25%, 30%, or more in annual household income. Earning more money means that they can get out of cyclical debt (or not get into it in the first place), can pay for their children's tuition and for family medical expenses, and can live better and healthier lives overall.
All of this and much more is possible because of you, our friends and supporters. We thank you once again and wish you all the best for the new year.
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