Empower Girls Through Travel & Aid Work in Nepal
Sponsor a group of young Nepali women on a volunteer trip to aid a rural village in Nepal!
'Girls Empowered by Travel' needs your help to send female Nepali youth leaders to support a tiny, earthquake-rocked village in the Himalayas where enterprising families are working hard to establish sustainable homestay businesses. Your donations will support our mission to empower girls through travel and community service, while helping secure a livelihood for indigenous families.
Your donation empowers girls in Nepal by:
• Funding scholarships to send young Nepali women on this volunteer trip
• Creating an opportunity to support their community and promoting self-sufficiency in the developing world
• Giving girls the opportunity to take leadership in projects, develop skills and knowledge, and learn how to become powerful in all aspects of their lives
• Broadening horizons: Girls travel outside their hometown (often for the first time!), exchange ideas, and promote cultural understanding
Their volunteer work will help save a village:
• Gre village was hit hard by a devastating earthquake in 2015 — many families still live in temporary shelters and lack basic needs, like showers or toilets
• Local families are eager to launch homestay businesses but lack access to resources. They have requested the guidance and support of mentors who can show them the way.
• We can help them establish safe, sustainable business practices, build the soft infrastructure necessary to support tourism, and attract travelers
• Homestays = income = opportunity, education, health, etc.
• Local industry means families won't need to move to the city or split up to find work — helping protect Tamang culture and heritage
ABOUT GIRLS EMPOWERED BY TRAVEL
'Girls Empowered by Travel' is a Nepal-based non-profit organization that provides safe opportunities for women to travel and get involved in community work. GET strives to promote leadership among women and youth that will have a ripple effect on their communities.
(VIDEO: Footage from a recent research trip to Gre to meet with homestay owners and entrepreneurs.)
OUR STORY
It all began in a little village at the base of the mighty Himalayas....
Last November 'Girls Empowered by Travel' (GET) founder Lena Zubareva, Sajana Bhadal (President of GET), Kat Liljegren, and a few friends were trekking through the Langtang region of Nepal. The first night we were all guests in the rustic home of Nima, Dahlia, and their 4 young daughters (pictured above).
Over tea they told us how in April 2015 Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake , and their village was one of the hardest hit! Every home crumbled. Every. Single. Home.
Many people in the village still live in temporary shelters. Most are subsistence farmers, or rely on seasonal or international work to put food on the table. But some families, like Nima's, have managed to save up enough to build new homes — safe homes — that won't crumble in an earthquake. They dream of opening their new homes to travelers as a homestay, to share their culture and cultivate a lucrative tourism industry that will bring jobs and opportunity to the village.
We were the first guests in Nima and Dahlia's homestay. Before we left they asked us for help — advice, guidance — to make their homestay a success and bring jobs, industry, and opportunity to the village. It would mean a good income for their family. It would expose their four daughters to different cultures, and support their goals to learn English. And it would mean Nima wouldn't have to leave home to work as a guide for three months a year.
(PHOTO: Lena, Dahlia, and Sajana outside Dahlia and Nima's home in Gre village)
As we trekked on through the stunning Himalayans, Nima, Dahlia, and everyone we met in the village kept popping back into our minds. A plan was formed to organize a volunteer trip to support the village. The trip would raise funds for Girls Empowered by Travel while helping Nima, Dahlia, and their neighbors.
THE PLAN
In April 2019 we will return to the village with a team of volunteers. We have 3 goals:
1) Help BUILD the infrastructure necessary to support tourism
2) Help ESTABLISH safe, sustainable business practices for the benefit of all
3) Help ATTRACT travelers to introduce this emerging destination to the world
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We need YOUR help! Your funds will support various projects to achieve our goals: Providing scholarships for volunteers, building a solar shower, providing hygienic cooking supplies and training, English language training and resources, transportation to and from Gre village (a 7 hour 4x4 ride from Kathmandu), marketing training and resources — and provide much-needed funding for the life-changing empowerment and service projects organized by Girls Empowered by Travel.
(PHOTO: Sajana repping 'Girls Empowered by Travel' on the summit of Kyanjin Ri at 15,700ft)
