By Amanda Jacobs | Program Manager
Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with high inequalities between women and men, and the earthquake of April 25th, 2015 further amplified this effect. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed approximately 9,000 people and injured more than 23,000. The Nepal Earthquake Rebuilding Program started in January 2016 with the objective to unite the earthquake affected poor and marginalized women of some of the hardest-hit areas.
To date, of the 60 total homes to be rebuilt, 45 are now completed, and the remaining 15 are under construction. The women’s self-help groups and women’s education programs are also going strong. Education to women, formal or informal, contributes towards both development of economic independence and welfare of the individual and her family. The objective of the women’s education is to build their confidence by teaching basic reading, writing, addition and subtraction; encouraging them to practice signatures as well as to express their needs, feelings, interests and concerns; and to encourage women to speak against gender discrimination and social violence. All three women’s groups have received 3 months of literacy classes provided under the adult education program and were trained in 12 points of Cornerstone training. Cornerstone training guides communities to self-reliance. The training encourages participation in decision making, respecting each other, talking about accountability, and proper use of resources.
All three women’s groups have also established their trust funds from which members can take loans. 11 women have now taken loans from the trust fund and have started small scale income generating activities. 8 women are raising goats, 2 women are doing poultry farming and one woman is raising buffalo. The groups meet twice a month. In the first meeting, they work on their savings, pay back loans, and manage the trust funds. In the second meeting, they discuss emerging social issues in their community and identify ways to address those issues.
The participants in this project are making great progress towards self-sufficiency! Thank you for supporting these hard-working women!
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 can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
