Training workshop for Nepali women
Donation protected
Essential skill training programs provided by organizations in Nepal are changing women's lives.
HIMAWANTI Nepal, a non-government organization tasked with empowering women in forestry work, trains rural women on how to create frames, statues and other goods made only from leftover forest resources.
While framemaking might seem to be menial work to us, in Nepal it is the largest-growing part of the handicraft industry - and is largely dominated by men.
The trainings empower each woman to step outside of her comfort zone and employ her inner businesswoman.
This is especially crucial after Nepal's devastating earthquake in 2015 that launched 3 million people into poverty and displaced many families.
Some of the women who have benefitted from these programs were the subjects of my film 'Women of the Forest," a short documentary that explores small female businessowners that have benefitted from these programs. [I will be uploading the film after a short Ottawa-GTA tour being conducted for International Women's Day!]
To give back to these women who gave me so much of their time, passion and knowledge, I am fundraising to create more of these training programs in Nepal.
What your donation could do:
- Purchase materials such as picks, stones and wood for the duration of the six month training program.
- Provide machines so women can shave, cut and varnish the dead wood for the frames.
- Assist with the salary of the trainers (often successful graduates of the program).
- Help with providing food for trainees
The exchange rate is 1 Canadian dollar = 82 rupees, so your donation will go a long way!
The budget for the training was provided to me by HIMAWANTI-Nepal and is as follows (prices shown in Nepali rupees):
These trainings have lasting effects on the lives of the female participants.
One example is Parvati Sapkota Gautam, a passionate woman who used the training as a means of escape from a unsupportive family.
At the crack of dawn, Parvati would walk from her small house on the outskirts of the city to an empty schoolhouse filled with logs and machines.
She could never stay for long - by 6 am, Parvati would be back home to prepare food for her husband and five small children before the school day began.
She would do this for six months without her family's knowledge.
"When I told them about the work I was doing, they said, 'Women cannot do woodwork and are not made for it,' she told me in confidence. "We are also blamed for skipping housework in their eyes, so we had to hide the training from them."
Another is Rajani Shrestha, who decided to apply for the training program when she couldnt find a job after finishing school.
"Education is important for everyone to have, but I left mine because I was not interested in what I was studying," she told me. "Now I produce these frames and want to take advanced training as well to learn more."
Any donation you make will help more women like Parvati and Rajani accomplish their goals!
Thank you so much for your donation, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out.
- Anna Desmarais
Director, Women of the Forest
HIMAWANTI Nepal, a non-government organization tasked with empowering women in forestry work, trains rural women on how to create frames, statues and other goods made only from leftover forest resources.
While framemaking might seem to be menial work to us, in Nepal it is the largest-growing part of the handicraft industry - and is largely dominated by men.
The trainings empower each woman to step outside of her comfort zone and employ her inner businesswoman.
This is especially crucial after Nepal's devastating earthquake in 2015 that launched 3 million people into poverty and displaced many families.
Some of the women who have benefitted from these programs were the subjects of my film 'Women of the Forest," a short documentary that explores small female businessowners that have benefitted from these programs. [I will be uploading the film after a short Ottawa-GTA tour being conducted for International Women's Day!]
To give back to these women who gave me so much of their time, passion and knowledge, I am fundraising to create more of these training programs in Nepal.
What your donation could do:
- Purchase materials such as picks, stones and wood for the duration of the six month training program.
- Provide machines so women can shave, cut and varnish the dead wood for the frames.
- Assist with the salary of the trainers (often successful graduates of the program).
- Help with providing food for trainees
The exchange rate is 1 Canadian dollar = 82 rupees, so your donation will go a long way!
The budget for the training was provided to me by HIMAWANTI-Nepal and is as follows (prices shown in Nepali rupees):
These trainings have lasting effects on the lives of the female participants.
One example is Parvati Sapkota Gautam, a passionate woman who used the training as a means of escape from a unsupportive family.
At the crack of dawn, Parvati would walk from her small house on the outskirts of the city to an empty schoolhouse filled with logs and machines.
She could never stay for long - by 6 am, Parvati would be back home to prepare food for her husband and five small children before the school day began.
She would do this for six months without her family's knowledge.
"When I told them about the work I was doing, they said, 'Women cannot do woodwork and are not made for it,' she told me in confidence. "We are also blamed for skipping housework in their eyes, so we had to hide the training from them."
Another is Rajani Shrestha, who decided to apply for the training program when she couldnt find a job after finishing school.
"Education is important for everyone to have, but I left mine because I was not interested in what I was studying," she told me. "Now I produce these frames and want to take advanced training as well to learn more."
Any donation you make will help more women like Parvati and Rajani accomplish their goals!
Thank you so much for your donation, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out.
- Anna Desmarais
Director, Women of the Forest
Organizer
Anna Desmarais
Organizer
Orléans, ON
