Feel Good Friday - Women For Human Rights, Single Women Group - Nepal

It's been almost a week since the devastating 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. The death toll has risen to over 5,000 and an estimated 2.8 million Nepalese are displaced from their homes.

It's difficult to find a reason to feel good under these circumstances and yet, there's always hope. Today's Feel Good Friday is focused on Women for Human Rights, Single Women Group. Since last Saturday they have been mobilizing volunteers to distribute food in different areas of Nepal. While there is more need than this group can possible address, they are doing what they can and updating social media with calls to action tagged as #HelpInAnyWayPossible.

And what do they do when they are not providing earthquake relief? Provide support to widows in the country, both young and old. They refer to the widows as "single women" because the term widow has such a negative connotation in Nepal.

According to their website, "Discrimination against women in Nepal is prevalent, due to the structure of the society deeply rooted in Patriarchal thoughts. Women are constantly marginalized and single women (widows) are in a (sic) even worse state. Single woman are considered as symbols of ill-omen and the cause of the death of their husbands." You can hear more about this by watching this 5:49 minute video.

Their mission is a simple one, "To empower women economically, politically, socially and culturally in order to live dignified lives and enjoy the value of human rights."

To accomplish this they divide their areas of focus into five pillars, which you can read about in detail here. Briefly, they are as follows:

1. Create awareness of victims of cultural torture and provide a scholarship fund and school supplies for children of these single women.
2. Train women in the development of different kinds of income generating activities, provide micro loans and education on effective ways of saving money.
3. An advocacy campaign for the human rights of women as well as counseling and skills development to help conflict affected women recover from traumatic experiences and reintegrate back into society.
4. Improvement of single women groups to articulate demands to improve their situations by securing rights from their local bodies of government.
5. Building networks at the South Asian regional and global levels to increase awareness of the rights of single women.

Since the creation of WHR in 1994 they've changed laws ranging from increased property rights for single women to being able to get a passport without a male relative's approval. They now have a membership base of over 100,000 women in 73 districts!

To follow their progress on earthquake recovery and their work with single women, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @WHRNepal.

Feel Good Friday - Kopila Valley Children's Home and Primary School

Feel Good Friday is on a young person roll. 

From Katie in South Carolina to William in Malawi and back to the United States to meet the Burrito Boyz of San Diego, kids these days are sure a lot more active an involved than I was when I was their age. Today, I want to let you know about Maggie Doyne. 

At the ripe old age of (now) 26, she runs the Kopila Valley Children's Home and Primary School in Surkhet, Nepal - a project she started when she was only 19. Meeting young children in need during a trip to Nepal after high school prompted Maggie to call home and have her parents send her the $5000 she earned babysitting so she could start sending Nepalese children to school.

That led her to creating first an orphanage, then a school and finally a foundation. Like you do.

The goals related to Nepal are outlined on their website:

"Our Vision To sustain and improve the quality of life and the future for children of Nepal.

Our Mission To create a self-sustainable living community for destitute children that provides their most basic needs and also contributes to post-war recovery and peace in the nation of Nepal."

As for the foundation... "BlinkNow is a grass-roots organization working to empower young people to become pioneers in developing their own solutions to world poverty. The organization targets under-developed, war-torn countries where extreme poverty exists. These nations have high rates of illiteracy, disease, child labor, and unstable governments, thus making them the prime focus for our organization. The organization has established its initial project in Nepal, Kopila Valley Children’s Home.

Amazed by the work and can't get enough right? Well, you can still read an interview with Maggie at Communicate Good or a longer article in the NY Times, watch a short video of Maggie and the students or like her Facebook page to keep current with their news.

Climb Every Mountain - Raising Money for Nepalese Schoolgirls

Hi All,

Want to help educate two Nepalese schoolgirls without getting altitude sickness?  Then support the climb-a-thon my friend Kate (pictured here) is undertaking on Wednesday!

I've pasted her letter below (because yeah, I couldn't figure out how to attach it - but I can send it to you if you ask).  Plus, she describes why this particular family and how the climb-a-thon works.

A Swiss woman living in South Africa raising money for people Nepal and receiving support from people around the world.  Yes, we can be quite the global community if we put our minds to it!

So - I encourage you to support her if you can.  She's a fabulous person and I'd like to help her achieve her dream!

Thanks,

Miss K

PS - Please contact Kate (kathryn_crowther@hotmail.com) or me directly to get her banking details... didn't seem like that was something that I should put online for the world to see.  And now to her letter:

While I was in Nepal in 2005, I was deeply touched by the hospitality, friendship and kindness of the local people, even though they had, themselves, many hardships to bear. A porter, Dawa, who trekked with me and my friend for a few weeks, was badly affected by the political situation in his country and the resulting lack of tourists. Because of the shortage of work, Dawa could no longer afford to send his 2 daughters, Chotti and Tschering (then aged 7 and 9) to school. 

Many of you very kindly supported me in my fundraising activity in 2005, to raise money for Chotti and Tschering’s education. I successfully raised 4 years worth of schooling for each girl. Tragically, Dawa became another victim of the violence in Nepal; he was shot and killed just outside Katmandu in May 2006, just one day before he was supposed to go trekking. His children and his widow now rely completely on outside support. Because I knew Dawa personally, it is very important to me to ensure that his girls will be educated and looked after until they can support themselves (and their mother). 

I have chosen my next adventure to be a means of raising money to finance the following years of Chotti’s and Tschering’s schooling. Please, let me explain… 

In April/May 2008 I will attempt to climb Cho Oyu, 8’201m, the world’s 6th highest mountain. I am asking you to donate a chosen amount per 100m of altitude that I achieve, starting at 5’500m, ending at the highest point I reach (climbing up and down does not count double). Here are some examples: Jim would like to donate 5 Swiss Francs (CHF) per 100m of altitude that I achieve. If I reach 5’600m, he will donate CHF 5 (1 x CHF 5), if I reach 7’000m, he will donate CHF 75 (15 x CHF 5) and if I summit, he will donate CHF 135 (27 x CHF 5). All currencies and all amounts are welcome. 

Once I have completed my climb I will let you know just how high I reached (on tippy-toes, with stretched arms) and how much your donation works out to be. I would then ask you kindly to transfer the amount into my Nepal fundraising bank account in Switzerland. From there I transfer the school fees each year. 

I strongly believe that education is the key to a brighter future. “Give a man a fish and he is fed for a day. Teach him to catch fish and he can thereafter feed himself and his family”. This will be my, and I hope our, contribution to the futures of Chotti and Tschering. Every single cent donated will go directly to benefit Dawa’s family. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me, email would be the simplest (kathryn_crowther@hotmail.com). If you decide you would like to be part of my fundraising project, just let me know how much you would like to donate per 100m, the rest you can leave up to me. 

I will sign off with a big THANK YOU to all of you that decide to support me and go out for a run in preparation… 

A big hug to you all, 

Kate