Outreach for Women and Girls in Post-Quake Nepal

Checking in with our project participants

Through regular focus group discussions, surveys, and even 1-on-1 interviews, Aura Freedom takes pride in monitoring the impact our work has on our project participants. We believe it is our responsibility to adapt project activities to suit the needs of the people we serve and strongly feel there is no other way to achieve sustainable development.

Today we'd love to share with you a success story discovered from one of our 1-on-1 interviews...a woman who faces a different type of discrimination in her community. A woman who inspires us all.

A different type of discrimination 

Although the program focuses primarily on addressing gender inequality and gender-based violence, there are also awareness sessions dedicated to anti-discrimination based on caste, social class and physical and/or mental disabilities. 

Being a physically disabled woman in Nepal is particularly challenging, as the discrimination they face as a physically disabled member of society is compounded by the inequalities they face due to their gender. They are often ostracized, stigmatized and excluded from community activities. They are also more vulnerable to sexual violence and human trafficking. Which is why we are even more blown away by the inspiring Pooja.

MEET POOJA

“This program has changed my life.”

Pooja, 28, and her family live in a remote displacement camp. She is physically disabled, and the stigma surrounding her disability has long left her isolated. With few friends and supporters, life can be challenging and she has had her share of difficult days. After losing so much in the earthquake, she became even more isolated.

But now, as she told Outreach staff, things have begun to change.

An active participant of the awareness sessions from the beginning (she never missed a class), Pooja met new people through the Outreach program. She also told us that the anti-discrimination awareness her community received has helped lift some of the stigma she had been facing.

She is also continuously learning about her rights and the services available to her. Where there was previously a gap in communication between her and the community, Pooja now feels supported by the staff and is treated better by her fellow participants. Who says change can't happen quickly? 

To us, there is no way for us to measure this type of success and the ripple effects it will have in the future. It is the reason we do what we do.

Thank you for supporting this important project and the women it serves. We couldn't do it without you.