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Last month we finished Her Turn workshop at Tatopani school. Hundred and ten girls completed the workshops and presented at community ceremony. During the event, the girls introduced Girls’ Support Committee’s members, delivered speeches on gender equality and presented a very powerful stage play on human trafficking. Their parents and community were impressed with girls’ public speaking skills and knowledge of these difficult issues. Trafficking is particularly important in this area, as Tatopani is a border village and is a witness to increasing rates of girls and women being trafficked to China. One of our participants, Pasang Lama, 14, who prevented trafficking of two girls during the workshop, received a medal and an ovation from her community and school during the ceremony. You can read the details of what Pasang did here. Check out the photos from Tatopani below.
While Nepal is preparing for the upcoming elections on November 19th, we are getting ready for a new round of our workshops. We will be working with several schools in Gorkha district. The girls we will be working with face particularly high rates of child marriage. During our workshops, we will be raising awareness of girls and their communities of the adverse effects of this harmful tradition.
Gorkha district borders with Tibet on the north. It is historically important, because it is the birth place of King Prithivi Narayan Shah, who is credited with unifying Nepal in the 18th century. Today, despite being a popular destination for tourists, the poverty levels in the district and associated problems remain high. People living in remote villages of the district face low access to health care facilities, which contributes to high levels of infant and maternal mortality rates. Other problems associated with poverty include low literacy levels, lack of access to sanitation, high incidence of preventable diseases, and others. As in other poverty stricken places, it is often girls and women who suffer disproportionately.
Her Turn aims at transforming harmful attitudes and behaviors, so girls can go to their schools and perform as high as their brothers. We are looking forward to meeting our new trainers and participants. Stay tuned for more!