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.
Your gifts are going to help girls like Kamala here to get the education they deserve and the opportunity to overcome poverty forever. Your gifts really will change lives, so first of all, thank you.
Hello and welcome to my first blog post from Nepal! The sights, smells and sounds of life in here are truly extraordinary. In the cities the smell of cooking and spices fills the air and everything, from the clothes to the lorries, is an explosion of colour. And in the countryside, miles of green rice paddies blend into the slopes of the world’s tallest mountains creating some amazing views.
But beneath all of this, Nepal is struggling with some of the highest poverty rates in Asia. And across the country women and girls are disproportionately affected and at the heart of this difference is education.
Fighting gender inequality in schools and communities
Thank you for supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people and helping them get life changing support. Gifts like yours will very soon be helping me to work with an innovative project that is ensuring more girls in Nepal are staying in school and have the opportunity to build a life free from poverty.
There are a number of reasons why girls struggle to get a full education in Nepal. Child marriage amongst young girls is still wide spread with 40% married by the age of 15 and removed from school to start a new life as someone’s wife. Girls are also more likely to be removed from school in order to support their families with household chores. The result of this gender disparity has meant that across Nepal, over 60% of women are illiterate and are unable to secure a livelihood and break out of poverty.
I feel very privileged to be able to volunteer with VSO and use my skills to support young girls in Nepal, who are too often denied a full education. Through the Sisters for Sisters project I will be working with older girls, “Big Sisters”, who have completed education and will equip them with skills to mentor and encourage younger girls who are at risk of leaving school early. This is a really exciting role as these “Big Sisters” will not only directly support younger girls but will act as role models for whole communities so girls and their families can see the real value of schooling. I’ll be in touch soon with more details about my placement and life in Nepal.
