Since launching the Indentured Daughters program in 2000, NYF rescued nearly 13,000 girls, and helped to end the practice of Kamlari indentured servitude. More than just bringing the girls home, however, we built an infrastructure to provide peer counseling, vocational training, and support to establish small businesses.
The Indentured Daughters campaign evolved and grew into NYF’s Empowering Freed Kamlari program — and your generous support for this program over the years gave so many of these young women the education and economic empowerment they needed to not only remain free, but achieve their dreams.
As you may know, in 2010, NYF supported the freed girls in forming their own NGO – the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF). Together, NYF and the FKDF played a critical role in pushing the Nepal government to end the practice of bonded labor in 2013.
Now, after 20 years of the entire Kamlari program, NYF has fully transitioned leadership to the FKDF. While we will continue supporting FKDF with any resources and funds, we are confident in the incredible young women who will lead the organization — independent of NYF.
As a result, we will be concluding this project. We are so grateful to each and every one of you who have helped to make all of this possible.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
We hope you’ll continue to support NYF’s ongoing efforts to empower Nepalese women and children. You may be interested in our most recent project we’ve launched in response to the current global crisis: COVID Relief: Emergency Shelter for Women in Nepal.
We’ll also be launching more projects in response to COVID-19 on GlobalGiving in the coming weeks.
If you have set up a recurring gift for this project, it will automatically be transferred to the Emergency Shelter for Women in Nepal project, which provides care and temporary shelter for women in Nepal experiencing housing insecurity due to COVID-19.
Thank you again!
Links:
“Priya” is from a remote village in western Nepal and lives in a cottage on a small piece of farmland.
When she was only nine years old, she was sold as a domestic servant to work in the household of a wealthy family. Priya was forced to complete all of the family’s household chores, and not allowed to go to school.
Thanks to the help of generous supporters like you, Priya was rescued by NYF when she was 13. And though she went back to school, she was too far behind to catch up with her peers. She worked hard and managed to complete the ninth grade, but left school after she got married.
With no source of income other than what their meager farm can produce, and an extended family of nine people to provide for, her husband left Nepal to look for work.
Desperate to find a way to keep their family together, Priya enrolled in NYF’s Vocational Training program, and began taking a “Tea and Snacks-making” class. She completed her training last fall in October, and successfully opened a small business near her home.
Now 22, Priya makes more than enough to support herself and her family. Her husband returned to Nepal from India to help her business, and their two children are even attending a good school nearby.
Thank you so much for helping to make this life-changing work possible. Priya, and so many others like her, are so thankful for your continued support!
Links:
At the age of nine, “Tika” lost her father in a tragic accident. With no other way to support their family, her mother sent Tika to work for a wealthy family as an indentured Kamlari servant.
For six years, instead of going to school, Tika worked in grueling labor - doing all of the family’s household chores, including raising their cattle.
At age 15, Tika was rescued by NYF, but had lost too many years of school to catch up with her peers. Instead, she joined an Industrial Tailoring class at one of NYF’s Vocational Training schools in Kathmandu.
This past summer, Tika completed her six-month training - and ever since, her life has truly transformed. Her hard-earned skills have helped her land a well-paying job and become an independent young woman. She earns $130/month - more than enough to support herself, and even send money back home to help her mother and younger sister.
Your generous support has helped so many former indentured servants like Tika receive the resources they need to lead bright and independent lives.
Thank you and dhanyabad!
Links:
“I carried many dreams during the long, two-decade journey against slavery. Some were fulfilled, and some are in the process of becoming fulfilled. But, the biggest dream of all – the end of the Kamlari system – has now been fulfilled.”
- Man Bahadur Chhetri, Program Coordinator
August marked the celebration of a remarkable milestone for the Freed Kamlari girls: the inauguration of their first, and very own, brand new building. On this special day, members of the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (the organization NYF helped the former indentured servants create) gathered to celebrate and formally inaugurate their new headquarters.
Securing the funds to fulfill this dream was not an easy process. Your support helped NYF provide them with training and guidance - and the young women flourished. They held meetings, submitted proposals, and lobbied the government. Before long, the girls triumphed and received sufficient grants (mostly from the government) to buy the land and build the office. It took a lot of hard work and determination – a true testament to what the girls are capable of.
The inauguration ceremony was a colorful event that transcended the opening of the building: it was a celebration of all the accomplishments they’ve made. Shanta Chaundry, a former Kamlari and elected member of the local parliament, was the official ribbon cutter of the ceremony. In her speech, she focused on how education is the key to their future – something the office will help make happen.
We’re so proud of the Freed Kamlari girls and their ongoing accomplishments, and grateful to you - the generous donors - who made it all possible. Thank you and dhanyabad!
Links:
“Alina” was sold into servitude at the mere age of 11. For three years she was denied her basic human right to education, and worked to exhaustion. After being rescued by NYF, her lack of education meant she was unable to find work.
Frustrated and unemployed, Alina had almost given up hope — until she enrolled in NYF’s vocational training program. After taking a course in tea & snacks-making, Alina had the tools she needed to start her own food stall business. Now, at 26, Alina is finally happy, knowing that she is able to provide for her family, including her newborn son.
Thanks to caring friends like you, NYF has provided vocational skills training to 145 freed Kamlari girls this quarter. These courses empower women rescued from virtual slavery by providing them with employable skills.
Your continued support helps to ensure that Alina, and many others like her, can lead happy and independent lives. Thank you!
Links:
Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you will get an e-mail when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports via e-mail without donating.
We'll only email you new reports and updates about this project.
