Women's Empowerment in Nepal

Dear Supporters, 

It has been a mild and short-lived winter in Nepal, the season is rapidly switching, and early rains are perking up the dry landscapes and mountainsides. Pre-monsoon is upon us, and gardens are beginning to bloom and burgeon with late winter crops. Layers of clothing are being reduced from puffer jackets and mufflers to thick shawls and chia tea to warm your soul.

In a recent fundraiser to support women’s empowerment programs, several of our community members participated in the “Walk for Women" campaign. At a time when being together has been so rare, this time was precious for women who haven’t been able to meet together with their friends socially for a year.

Our projects, which have been on hold for the safety of our community and our local staff throughout the pandemic, have more recently started up again. We have begun to meet in very small groups to work together again. This has been a really lovely time, reconnecting in person. Communities are slowly reconnecting with friends and supports who are crucial in helping them to maintain a sense of pride and community in their lives. Not being able to meet physically has had a profound impact on the women’s sense of community. Before the pandemic outbreak, many women had ambitions that they were working towards; implementing their skills in local businesses to support their families better or; travelling overseas to provide more income stability for their families. With those businesses only now reopening and international travel still paused, the knock-on effect has been difficult for many to remain motivated. Being a part of our women's empowerment projects was crucial for them in achieving those goals.

Having proficiency in English, confidence in interacting with people, advocating for themselves, and having a greater understanding of business are all key focus areas of our programs. Local staff have been planning our intensive catch-up session for many months now and have been really encouraged by the uptake of these sessions in the past week as gatherings have started again! Local staff have reported that though the women were initially nervous about losing knowledge, they have had very little difficulty catching up to where they left off over a year ago. 

In support of GVI Charitable Programs "The 6th Mass Extinction" campaign, we will be joining nearly 500 other people around the world to help highlight the current conservation and climate crisis we all face, actions we can all take to help reduce the negative impact we are all having on the planet and to help raise funds to support critical conservation and climate action projects. Climate change is having a huge impact on Nepal, now, it is far from an abstract topc and so please see the link below and support The 6th Mass Extinction campaign.

Thank you for your ongoing support, on behalf of the projects, partners and the community members. Our collaborative projects would not possible without you!

Links:

• Support The 6th Mass Extinction campaign!