First of all, many thanks to those who donated generously to the GivingTuesday. It was a good fundraising event and, the next fundraising event is on Sunday the 20th of May. We will walk the 10k for Nepal in London and then enjoy home-cooked delicious curries. You are kindly invited to participate in the event and sponsor the walkers.
You will be pleased to know that we have started to provide the educational support to nine more girls from this January. The girls are from the poorest and Dalit families, and the support will enable them to retrieve a formal education. The support will be continuous until the girls completed the grade ten. Then, the girls will be encouraged to enrol in our higher education scheme which is currently being developed. The scheme aims to produce more educated and capable women in the community from the disadvantaged families.
In the quarter, we provided 427 Notebooks and 264 pens to 106 girls in the scheme. Similarly, we have provided 106 sweaters, long socks, winter hats and sandals as part of the winter uniform. Fourteen girls from the scheme are behind in study, so we are providing an extra tuition class to them.
The school attendance of the girls in this quarter is not satisfactory. Only 37 girls have school attendance above the requirement, 44 girls have between 50% and 74% of the school days, and 16 girls have below 50%. It seems that the local and general elections, farming season and the bad weather are the main reasons for the unsatisfactory result. The staff and volunteers are instructed to spend more time with the girls and the families in this quarter to maintain the expectation.
Despite the agreement with parents, ten girls from the scheme are frequently absent from schooling. It is because they are forced to work in the field, being used in domestic-work and being forced into teenage marriage. We have given several warnings to the parents, but it was ignored. So, we had to call help from the police. The staff visited the parents with two police officers to resolve the issues. The visit was very effective and now, we are hopeful that the girls’ schooling will not be disrupted in the future.
We are committed to ensuring all the girls in the scheme will complete their schooling no matter what it takes and, we need your continuous support to mate it happen. So please, make a regular donation of whatever amount you can afford to the project.
‘GivingTuesday’ is on the 28th of November, in less than two weeks of time and, Christmas is also coming soon. GivingTuesday is a global day of giving and millions of people around the world give to charitable organisations on this day. It can be given as a donation or gift card or donation in honor for someone special. To do that visit- https://www.globalgiving.org/gifts/ and, search for ‘The Girls’ Education Project in Rural Nepal’ by Nepal Village Foundation, UK.
We support girls from the poorest and Dalits families in rural Nepal to retrieve a formal education through the project. Girls’ education has been ignored in Nepalese community for various reasons such as, cultural traditions and poverty. We provide, uniform, study materials, fees and all the supports to girls. Currently, we provide the support to ninety-six girls and, three girls have completed secondary schooling. Eleven more girls will receive the support from this month and, there are many more girls need the support in the community.
Please sponsor a girl on this holiday season. It costs only £5/$7 a month or £50/$76 per year.
Thank you for supporting the project and helping the poor girls in Nepal
Dear supporters,
Thank you for your continuous support to the ongoing Girls’ Education Project in Nepal.
The devastating flood triggered by heavy rainfall in the southern Nepal on 12th of August 2017 has taken the life of 121 people, hundreds of missing, 6000 families have been displaced, and over 5 million people are severely affected. See the link for more details- https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/16/floods-and-devastation-in-india-nepal-and-bangladesh-in-pictures
NVF works in Southern Nepal to promote formal education for girls from the poor and Dalit families because girls’ education has been ignored in the community. The families who have been displaced in flood are the poorest because their home in not built properly to defend against flood or earthquake. Now, without a home and livelihoods, the families will not be able to continue their children’s education.
Hence, to support the flood victim’s families and prioritise their children’s education, NVF team decided to rebuild the home and livelihoods of 100 families. A project has been posted on GlobalGiving, and without your support, we can do this. It is a very difficult time for the families so please donate generously. Link to the project– https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/rebuild-the-home-and-livelihood-of-100-flood-victims/.
You can also help us by setting up a fundraising campaign or by sharing the project with your families, friends and colleagues for their help to rebuild the home and livelihoods of the poor people in Nepal.
Best wishes
Links:
We are tearful by the death of Nitu, one of our ex-pupils from Bhagawatpur panchayat. Exactly a year ago, Nitu was forced to leave school for marriage by her parents. We did everything we could to stop the marriage, but they didn’t listen to us. Even Nitu didn’t want to get married, but sadly she didn’t have a choice. Nitu was only fifteen, and she had only a year left in finishing school.
After three months of her marriage, she became pregnant and, a week ago she died in hospital during the delivery. We all are shocked by her death. Despite the laws, the tradition of teenage marriage is still common in the community. Nitu is no longer with us, but the message that teenage marriage is a death trap has to be spread widely. The mistake has been made. Now, we take it as a learning and will try to persuade parents in the community even harder to stop the teenage marriage.
Currently, its summer school holiday in Nepal for one and half months. Sunita and Shankar, the project assistants, are organising quiz contest with the girls in various groups. Through the contest, they educate the girls about our work, the rules and regulations, their parent's role in it and theirs own. They also make sure that the girls study in the home regularly to avoid losing interest in schooling. The girls do get treated with chocolate in the quiz contest.
The financial year of our partner organisation ends in July and, it is also the month to bring new girls in the scheme. There are eleven girls who are in most need of our support in the panchayats. Without our support, the girls cannot continue their schooling and if they don’t then it means they will end up marrying someone soon. The cost to keep a girl in secondary schooling for a year is £60 or $85 or 7,800 rupees and in primary schooling £50 or $70.
If you can afford then, please sponsor a girl today. It doesn’t just enable them to retrieve a formal education; it also changes their life to good forever. Once Nelson Mandela said ‘’an education is the most powerful weapon to fight poverty and inequalities.’’ On addition to that, we strongly believe ‘’educate a girl today, and we never have to educate their children again.’’
School attendance of the girls in the scheme has gradually improved in the last two months. In fact, it was the best since 2009. All the girls except five attended school eighty percent of the school days and above. The five girls have some complicated family issues, and we are working on it. People in the community do not give priority to education for girls, especially in rural villages of Nepal.
Once girls are fourteen, their parents start searching a suitable groom because the parents believe that they have to do so. If the parents failed to find a groom for their daughter, then it affects their social status in the community. More importantly, if the parents died before it, then it’s a sin. Girls and boys, more particularly girls in the community are not allowed to choose their own partner. It is a responsibility of parents and, the parents negotiate for a large sum of wealth from marriage. It is known as dowry and Bride side pays to Groom side.
Girls in the community have to pass through a very critical stage when they are aged between 14 and 16 years. It is a decision-making stage for life. One of the five girls in our education scheme is at that stage, and her name is Nilam. If Nilam goes with her parent’s decision, then it is an end to her education career. If she doesn’t then she is a bad girl and, it is seen as a bad parenting in the community.
If Nilam parents do permit her to continue her education, then her school is too far to walk. At age fourteen pupils in Nepal start their secondary schooling, and secondary schools are few and far. It is certain that if she doesn’t go to school regularly, then she will lose an interest and end up working in the home which ultimately leads to marring someone as soon as.
Very few lucky girls get an opportunity to continue their education after marriage because their new role demands more than she can manage. So, she won’t have time to study. After marriage, Nilam more probably will work non-stop from early morning till late night in her new home. Cooking, washing, working in the field, looking after cattle, taking care of her husband and his parents, it’s all her job.
By now we understand the issue clearly and concisely, therefore, NVF has set up a priority frame-work, where to put more focus, how and when. There are eleven girls in a very similar situation to Nilam. If we want them to continue attending school regularly, then a bicycle is an immediate need. This will enable them to attend school regularly and minimise the risk to getting married soon. Schooling for the year has already begun from 12th of April, and we are still unable to provide a bicycle for the girls. A bicycle costs only £60/$90 in Nepal. Please buy a bicycle today. Link to the bicycle project on GlobalGiving is- https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/give-a-bicycle-to-girls-in-nepal-to-attend-school/
If you can please also sponsor a girl, it costs only £50/$75 a year, providing uniform, study materials, fees and all the support.
Links:
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