What the women say...
Sunita says that before the women used to gossip about things. Now they don’t have time to gossip because they have more important things to discuss. They have learned to work together.
Hatani says that now some of the women are starting to look at their daughters the same way they see their sons. Some have started to send their daughters to boarding school.
Manju says that the women can look after the books for their micro banks. They can do their own accounts.
What we do
Literacy Classes
WELNepal’s overreaching goal is to provide women with the best tools for self-improvement, literacy and education. Our literacy training consists of 14 months of classes held two hours a day, six days a week for up to 30 women of all ages. To date, we have given literacy training more than 3,500 women.
Libraries
The support can’t stop once the women have finished formal lessons. The more graduates emerging from classes, the more libraries are needed to satisfy the literary needs of not just the women, but the community as well. At present, there are 11 libraries, with more coming.
Health, Ecology and Women's Health
In addition to libraries, we want to continue women’s growth. WELNepal has provided three-day health lectures to 16 women’s groups, ecology lectures to 15 groups, and 14 groups have taken part in women’s rights and leadership training.
Income Generation
All of our graduates have said they want income-generating programs. WELNepal has provided organic farming training for 12 groups, including rental of land so they can raise and sell their own crops, and mushroom farming training.
Scholarships
WELNepal also sponsors girls with academic promise whose families cannot afford to continue their education. Because many parents see no value in educating their daughters, often the only option for these very young women is an arranged marriage. To try to break this cycle, WELNepal is currently sponsoring 22 students.
Scholarship recipients: Ashmita Rimal and Samjana Mahato.
To read more about WELNepal and women’s literacy in rural Nepal, please download the pdf of Ashley Newport’s article, Women’s Education and Literacy in Nepal.