This is why we do it...

A question often asked of us when we tell them about the work of Seven Women and the project in Nepal is: why do we do what we do?

Well, by providing you with some insights into our work, I think it's rather an easy question to answer...

Salina, pictured below, is blind in her right eye and because of because of this has been looked at as an outcast her whole life.

Salina grew up in her village of Gorkha and her family who did not see it worth investing in her education because to them it was believed to be a waste of money. Her brother and sister went off to school everyday while she was left to tender for the buffalo's, goats and chickens and cut grass to feed them everyday. She used to eat in another room so visitors to the house would not see her disability.

In Nepal, there is a deeply engrained belief in society that people with disabilities are paying for evils that they must have committed in a past life and so it is seen as extremely bad luck to associate with them. They are often left out of village activities, kept shut away in their own house (for their families wouldn't want people to know there was someone there), and they would almost never have the chance to go to school, or work, or enjoy many things that life has to offer.

Salina came to the training centre after attempting suicide 5 years ago. Her self worth was crushed as is the case with a lot of the women who come to the centre. Salina was apprehensive to learn the skills at the centre because she didn't think she could do it. Several years later, she now trains of over 460 women (and men) at the centre along with Kumari.  Both Salina and Kumari were both there from the start of the centre, the initial 'Seven Women'.

These wonderful women are responsible for not only training others, encouraging them to build confidence through learning skills to earn an income; but also for employing and welcoming new women into the centre who are both disabled and able bodied women. They have and continue to challenge the stigma in society.

Our work benefits impoverished and socially isolated women to come and gain skills, education, a livelihood, confidence and dignity.

This is why we do it.

Thanks for the interest you have shown and the support you have given, whether it be in a volunteering, giving financially, purchasing and promoting our products or capacity building for this project. It indeed is having a ripple effect, and let's keep those ripples spreading!