To be born a daughter is a lost life

is an echoed proverb in Nepal, the poorest country in

southeast Asia . . . traveling there for ten short days, our New Community Project Learning Tour of fifteen mostly strangers encountered one of the deepest and pervasive injustices in our world female oppression and persecution. Learning alongside a grassroots organization, Women Empowerment, we stepped outside the tourist scene of the two largest cities, Kathmandu and Pokhara, and stepped into the rustic, rural villages of Godavari and Rithepani . . . where we were welcomed and worshiped guests; where we listened intently to the quivering stories of Monita, Prajani, Arati, Dipti, Gyany and little Ishma; where we gained strength from their strength; where we were challenged by our own ceaseless comforts and plentiful privileges; where language was transcended through smiles, laughter, and tears; and where we drank and danced their culture and customs - and empowerment. We became awakened to a land where 1 out of every 24 live births, the mother dies; where only 20% of the women are literate; where only 7% of the entire population achieves a high school education; where men eat first the meat, the veggies, the fruit and the women eat last whatever is leftover, mostly rice; where some women walk over 10 hours for clean water and 7 hours for medical care; where the government spends on average only $2.00/person for health coverage; where 13,000 people die each year of diarrhea; where the per capita income is $300; where 3 million children under age 15 are child workers; and where many girls by the age of 15 are arranged into marriage and a lifetime of servitude and even referred to as slaves by their husbands. In this land, women must worship their husbands as gods, never able to breathe or whisper the word no to them, instead they drink water from their husbands feet in order to be cleansed and purified. These husbands then leave their wives and children for other arranged marriages the women are left shamed in their culture, never to marry again, and stuck with no skills, no education, and no income. BUT THESE WOMEN PERSEVERE often through their husband s abandonment, they find themselves. Besides, they were doing all the work all along just never receiving the credit! Loading 50 pounds of firewood on their backs, hauling stacks of bricks and piles of dirt and carrying it all up and down mountain passes, these women show strength. Plowing and growing the fields, carrying buckets of water, preparing the meals, washing the clothes, cleaning the house, caring for the children, and managing the household, these women run the villages all without a voice. Instead, the men make the decisions. YET, slowly, these brave, bright, beautiful women are finding their voices and saying no to the injustice, to the shame, to the guilt. While their youth and education are lost, they can learn new skills, new trades and enter into a free market and eventually, hopefully, find economic and spiritual freedom. While seeking to empower themselves, they also seek to empower their daughters through education, providing them not a lost life, but a divine one . . . where each girl is given the freedom to respond to the highest power within her . . . becoming leaders and teachers, authors, advocates and artists, doctors, dentists, and diplomats, and even more than they dare dream . . . yet! AHH . . . we learned and became so much more . . . and we have so much more to share! Some of their last words were, Tell everyone about us! . . . and so it is here through our stories and laughter, pictures and memories, reflections and conversation that we share with one another and with you keeping their story alive . . .

What WE does
WE began with the initiative to provide skills-training for adult women in order to provide supplemental income for some and economic independence for others. Through this work, the women discover personal empowerment, more confidence, and a stronger voice. With a population of 27 million, mostly rural, WE goes right into the rural villages with a grassroots approach. Meaning, WE coordinators refrain from making blanket decisions for all women in all places; and instead, go directly to the villages, call out leaders within the village, and invite them to survey the leadership capabilities and women's interests. From there, the village leaders work alongside the district coordinators (five districts in Nepal) to organize educational workshops (including reproductive health concern, the benefits of skillstraining and increased literacy, women empowerment issues, etc.), as well as specific skills training. For instance, in one village, women make beaded belts and necklaces . . . in another, fabric painting in another, decorative pillows, and in Pokhara, nearly 40 women have been trained in hair design some who even own their own hair salon! Some of the struggle is that many women cannot break away from all the work to be done at home - including child-rearing - in order to engage a 1 month or 2-3 month training course. TIME is an issue.

For the women who are able to get trained, they struggle to find the time to do this new work. With all the household expectations, they must make the beads, paint the fabric, or sew the pillows in their "FREE TIME." Again, TIME

is an issue. For other women, their husbands forbid it.

Once the products are produced, selling the items then present yet another challenge. Like most businesses, it's not fair trade - so the women make the product for much less than what it's sold in the public market. Here MONEY is an issue. SO, another long-term desire for WE is to open a FAIR TRADE store - probably in Pokhara (very touristy city!), where they can sell their own products at a fair price - and begin producing income for WE, so that eventually WE can be more self-sustaining. Of course, TIME and MONEY are issues here. ALSO, currently WE provides full tuition for women who are able to engage in skills-training workshops. So WE is only able to train as many women as they have financial support. In order to balance this challenge, in the future, women will be asked to pay a small amount for their education (also demonstrating an even deeper investment), perhaps even provide small interest loans, if necessary. This idea is still in the works . . . It is important to note that ALL women are invited into the WE program - no matter caste, age, or ethnic group -- though the focus is for women in the rural villages (and not as much the city limits). WE also strives to gather as leaders on occasion - for mutual support, new ideas, and clearer communication - but again due to expenses, this gathering happens less than desired.

In addition, the leaders hope to continue to invest in their own advanced education, including learning how to speak English (instantly provides add'l working possibilities) and how to use a computer. THIS work is only HALF of what they are doing . . . with the recent, greater financial support of New Community Project - and NCP's commitment to girls' education, WE has been able to imagine beginning to break the cycle by educating their GIRLS! As you can imagine, most families cannot afford education and when they can, the boys are chosen before the girls. SO, beginning THIS March, 8-10 girls will receive educational scholarships - WE will provide multiple years of scholarships, so that the education just doesn't begin and end in the same year . . . committing to these girls' education is a long-term commitment. Might you consider committing long-term to these girls and women? YES, there are many people in need and many organizations to give, but NCP gives 100% of their donations directly to these partners . . . we travel to these lands to develop deeper, lasting, HOLY relationships - and we keep going back. . . that's what makes these partnership unique and sacred.

Dare to give something up in order to give to them . . .

Dare to take a Learning Tour yourself . . .

Dare to hope that 1 day we will stand in solidarity as a NEW COMMUNITY . . .

Topic: Beggars

y Elizabeth Keller

th.FB

One day in particular was VERY difficult for me. You've seen them -- here in the states, in your own global travels -- they're nothing new . . . beggars. It never gets easier, the response never clearer, the tears even heavier. This time I looked right into their eyes - and I saw Jesus. I couldn't settle for "You can't help all of them, so don't help any of them" . . . but that's exactly what I did. Here are a few reflections from my journal in poetic design -Walking the Streets One boy. Then two. Then three. Grabbed. Yanked. My water bottle gone. Drink for their week. Monkey Temple step after step to the Top. spinning the prayer wheels. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling. wheeling for peace. trance. dizzy. moving. circling the temple. circling life. Ahh, the city View! all of the city: the poor, the wealthy, the beggars, the king, the police, the government, the Maoists, the women, the women, the women. working, tilling, plowing. sewing, cooking, cleaning OBEYING. men playing cards and chess, kicking balls, just standing, practicing karate, away from the villages, away in the military. selling, haggling, struggling. also obeying also oppressed everyone begging. even the rich are poor. three young children huddled and filthy.

alone. too weak to even beg. one man with one leg. not able to even take one step up towards the temple . . . towards Buddha. Buddha will come to him, instead. step after step after step moving upward, looking upward, dreaming upward, legs shaking, trembling, ACHING to ARRIVE. step after step after step going down. looking down. holding on, slipping, shaking, scared. back to the streets to the daily struggle . . .

over a year ago Report y

Casey Thompson great visual Ive not been yet but what a plight to endure...sad

over a year ago Report y

Lorraine Aubert Is it ok to give them food? Wonderful poem!