A recent "Foreign Policy" News Report, dated May 2008, has published a list of "The Worst Places to be a Woman". The female to male income ratio is 50:100, and the average literacy rate for females is 35%. The article goes on to say: "Marriage comes early in Nepal: Women born in the late 1970s married at a median age of 16. And motherhood is particularly dangerous. Nepal is the “deadliest place in the world to give birth outside Afghanistan and a clutch of countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” according to a 2006 report by the International Federation of the Red Cross. That’s because only about 1 in 5 births is attended by trained health personnel. But the government is taking steps to improve women’s lives: A quota system for women and minorities resulted in a third of the Constituent Assembly seats going to women in the April elections." [Click here to see the rest of the article]
In Kathmandu, most of these women’s families have turned them away. The safe house provides a secure environment for these women and their children to escape their abuse, to recover, and to become self sufficient.
They say there’s power in numbers, and we have partnered with The Women’s Foundation in Kathmandu, Nepal and with the Tessa Horan Foundation (located in Santa Fe, New Mexico).
The Women's Foundation has already built a great program, but that program is facing a crisis of capacity. They cannot provide enough housing for the women and children that have come seeking refuge and assistance in building a new life. By opening the safe house, The Mountain Fund is has added the additional capacity needed to continue an already successful and multi-faceted program. This house quickly and inexpensively adds the capacity needed.
In addition to offering a safe refuge for these women, we offer training programs to help them become self sufficent for their future. Some of our training programs include basic English language; computer skills; trek leadership; and organic gardening.
Click HERE to see more about this project and help support women in need.
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