With your support the Sisters for Sisters project is making sure girls have the bright future they deserve. So much has happened during my first few months in Nepal volunteering as an education adviser on the Sisters for Sisters project. I have been mentoring and supporting ‘Community Mobilisers’ and facilitating training – so there’s lots I want to update you on already.
One of first things that struck me on my placement is how far many of the children have to trek every day to get to school. On one of my first visits to a school I walked up the side of a mountain from about 700 metres to 1600 meters (the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis perhaps!) in the steaming heat of 29 degrees, that’s in the shade, and nearly vertical in places. I was also carrying a pile of notebooks and pens as prizes for the children and a vital litre of water of course. It’s certainly more challenging than the school run at home.
When I arrived, to my astonishment all the teachers and students had been gathered and I was shown to a seat of honour. I was then adorned with garlands and red Tika, onto my already red face, and was asked to speak. The language lessons I had spent hours on at home came in useful and I managed to raise a smile and a laugh. Was it the words that made them smile, or the sight of white and blotchy red skin with red Tika stuck not only to my brow, but splattered on my sticky nose?!
A day with Manju
Manju is one of our Community Mobilisers; each Community Mobiliser has two or three communities, based on chosen schools that need help. They look after six to nine Big Sisters in each – and I will be supporting and working with Manju closely.
After spending some time with her, my feeling of admiration towards Manju has jumped up to another level. The youngest of four daughters, she was the first girl in the village to pass her School Leavers Certificate without any retakes. She then went on to the equivalent of sixth form and this meant getting up a 4am, leaving at 4.30am to walk to school for the first class at 6am. She would have to miss the last class to get back to her village by 10am where she was working as a primary school teacher.
She also had the added responsibility for the family terraces, planting, tending and harvesting as her sisters had married and moved to Kathmandu. Her father had died when she was 14 and she feels a huge sense of duty to care for her mother who is not in good health. Since that time she has studied for her B Ed, which she has nearly completed. College classes are usually held for three hours a day, 6-9 pm. On top of all of her other commitments she has been employed as a Community Mobiliser. After reading through this blog entry to make certain that she was happy with my words Manju added this quote:
“Our society has a priority for boys; girls are not accepted as equal. It is very hard to face community members and some people put me down. As a girl I have to put up with this. Some are very critical. While I was working as a teacher I was always teased that I would soon be married and would not be teaching for long. If I tried to speak at a meeting my ideas were not respected and no-one listened. For example, three or four years ago a mixed group were trying to set meeting rules. My ideas were not listened to. But yesterday, (at a Rotaract meeting), I was asked for my views. I developed six or seven rules which were not only listened to but were agreed and signed. Some of my community also now show more respect”.
This is a great example of a brave young lady and shows how vital the Sisters for Sisters project is to girls in the community. The role of Community Mobiliser has also added to her portfolio of experiences and I have a strong feeling that, as my father used to say, ‘she will go far’.
I’d like to say a huge thank you once again for your kind support and words of encouragement. The Sisters for Sisters project is life changing for so many girls. I look forward to updating you on my progress again soon.
Best wishes,
Judith
