Meet Kushal…

Kushal lives with both of his parents and his big sister Inushi. He is a happy boy, always smiling and excited to meet new people. His father works as a daily labourer, making beedies (Sri Lankan cigarettes), or finding other work to provide the family with an income. They live next door to his grandmother.

Kushal with his family in their home

When he was 3, Kushal became very sick for a whole year. His hand became paralysed and he could no longer swallow anything at all. The family were very poor and worried about how to afford his medicine and treatment.

Luckily, the local hospital referred Kushal’s mother to Project Hope. Project Hope immediately provided mosquito nets for the family, and food vouchers for the family to afford food without worrying about paying medical bills. They provide Kushal with special milk with he drinks through a tube in his nose.

The family also received a double bed and mattress with a mosquito net, so all four of them no longer had to share one bed. His sister received a school uniform, school shoes and books to take the strain off her worried parents.

Project Hope spoke to the nearby hospital who agreed to donate the medicine to the family, and Project Hope continue to pay for his transport to receive physiotherapy provided by a local NGO. They also pay for transport to the clinic to change his tube, and for when he gets sick or needs check ups.

Project Hope field officer Sujeewa examining the cracks in Kushal’s roof

Kushal’s grandmothers house was completely destroyed by the recent flooding in Sri Lanka. Luckily, the community came together to rebuild her house out of mud. However, Kushal’s families roof was badly damaged and they cannot afford to fix it. Their toilet was also broken, so the family currently have no working toilet and have to go into the jungle. This is extremely unsafe and increases the chance of Kushal getting sick again!

The destroyed house can be seen in the background

Just £250 will pay for a new toilet for this family who desperately need this after the flooding. With the help of Project Hope, Kushal and his sister Inushi can live together with their parents, without their parents giving them up to a local orphanage due to a lack of money for things like medicine and school supplies.

Donate now to support Kushal and his family and provide a new toilet and roof for this inspirational family!

Kushal and his mother, who can stay together thanks to Project Hope

Meet Diltha Damayanthi…

The Project Hope staff have been busy this week meeting more families affected by Sri Lanka’s flooding. This flooding is the worst since the tsunami, and many families we have met have been talking about how this flooding brings back memories of the tsunami destroying their homes, and bringing back fear of the water…

I met Diltha on a Tuesday morning while her children were at school. She showed me the damage the flood had done to the roof of her house. We talked about how destructive the water had been across the South of the Island; Diltha was lucky enough to be able to stay in her house with her children, despite the leaking roof damaging a lot of their possessions.

Diltha’s roof full of cracks after heavy flooding

But Diltha is an inspirational woman! At 35, she has a son and a daughter, who are 9 and 4 years old. After her husband left her, she moved back to live with her mother and father in a small 2 room house in the south of Sri Lanka. She used to rely on her husband for money and was left hopeless when he disappeared. However, luckily, she found Project Hope and asked them for help.

Through Project Hope, Diltha has learnt how to make and sell incense. From this small income, she has enough money to buy essentials for her children, such as school books and shoes. But Diltha is determined, and with the support of Project Hope, she is not stopping there!

Diltha is the chairperson of Project Hope’s first women’s savings group. I had met her before at our office when she came to give an update on their progress. Each week, the women deposit 100Rs (about 50p) into a shared savings account, so overall each month they give 400Rs. Now, between 6 women they are up to 7,200Rs. After six months, this money can be taken as a loan by any women with the approval of all other women in the group. The women are strict too! If they miss a meeting, turn up late or give in their money late they are fined 20Rs. For late fees, this goes up every day. But by working together, these women can use the money to make a difference in their lives.

Speaking at a savings group meeting at Project Hope Office!

Diltha is determined to support her family. When offered the chance to learn to drive a tuk tuk and make a living, she jumped at the chance, and has now finished her training! Her father is also a tuk tuk driver, so she takes every opportunity to practice. She told me, ‘to begin with, i was very scared of driving. Now it’s easy and i can’t wait to start!’

Showing us her tuk tuk skills with her teacher in the back!

She demonstrated her impressive driving skills to me before i said goodbye. These women are hardworking and determined. Diltha has managed to support herself since her husband left. In most cases, faced with no options and no way to support them, she would give her children up to a local orphanage. Luckily Project Hope were there to support Diltha. Now, she acts as a role model for other women in her savings group! We want to support Diltha to fix her roof, so her children don’t have to lose their school books every time it rains!

Donate now to support women like Diltha who are struggling to survive after flooding has destroyed their homes!

 

Meet Deepa Nishani…

Deepa Nishani lives with her three sons who are 10, 4 and 2 and a half years old. During the flooding, the children’s house was completely under water for 8 days!

Deepani discussing the water damage with our Field Officer

When we met her, her youngest son was in her arms and she showed the Project hope Field Officers the damage to their house. The water marks can still be seen on the walls, but Deepa has cleaned the whole house herself. The government have asked all families affected by the floods to clean their houses to stop the spread of disease, particularly through mosquitos.

The whole family had gone to stay with their Uncle, and returned to find most of their possessions destroyed. Local Sri Lankan families helped them by providing extra food and water while their house was underwater.

The water line which kept their house underwater for eight days!

The well they share with their neighbours has been cracked, and was covered in algae, now unsafe to drink from.

Deepa works as a tea picker at a local plantation while her children are in school. The floods mean that a lot of the tea has been destroyed and there is less work for local labourers. Not only has the flood immediately damaged her home, but she has the added worry of supporting her family with less stable work. Now, they desperately need school uniforms and books, as well as mosquito nets and new clothes.

Cracks in the walls of their house

Donate now to help families move on from Sri Lanka’s devastating floods!

Help Sri Lanka’s Flood Affected Families!

Project Hope supports families in crisis. This project aims to support vulnerable families to stay together; tackling some of the main drivers of poverty and family disintegration. The reality in Sri Lanka is that mothers are so poor, orphanages become a realistic alternative to look after their children. For us, this means supporting mothers so that they can become the breadwinner for their family, where fathers have died or abandoned the family, to inspire a new generation of empowered women.

In the past few weeks, Sri Lanka has been in crisis. I have been working at Project Hope in Sri Lanka and spending time with the families we help. The news is full of stories of the torrential rain and devastating mudslides that have hit the country; the worst disaster since the 2004 Tsunami. Families were forced to leave their homes as they filled with water, and head for higher ground, sleeping in schools or temples. The aim of Project Hope is to stop family separation, and the risk of this is much greater during natural disasters, where the stress of providing for the family increases, and a mother may look to orphanages as an alternative to feed and clothe her child.

In some areas the water has now receded, leaving behind debris and destroyed belongings. Families have begun returning to their homes so we set off to visit our Project Hope families and make sure they are ok.

Being greeted through the water

Nandani was recommended to Project Hope after the death of her husband last year. When I entered her two-room house, I noticed her sick baby asleep under a mosquito net. She showed me the rugs she has been making, thanks to the training from Project Hope, which gives her an income. The flooding has destroyed her toilet, cracked the walls in her kitchen and the rain had caused holes in her roof. Now, it is important that her son keeps receiving medicine, as well as putting extra precautions in place to stop him falling victim to the many waterborne diseases that will be likely due to the standing water. This will be a common problem across the flood affected areas of Sri Lanka; water bourne diseases and things like Dengue fever, caused by mosquitos, will become rife, and relief agencies must be ready with the appropriate medicine. While we were talking, her two daughters, who were fascinated by my light skin edged closer and closer and eventually took me by the hand to show me around their damaged house, and wanted me to stay and play with them.

When I managed to say goodbye to the girls, we moved to the second family. Chandra Canti who lives with her two children and mother. When she came to Project Hope, they had no beds and shared a towel on the floor to sleep on. After donating beds, Chandra was trained to make and sell incense to earn a living for the family. Again, large amounts of the families possessions have been destroyed with the flooding, as well as destroying their toilet. As the majority of toilets in Sri Lanka are outside, it seems likely that the water will have damaged thousands of these, causing a large-scale sanitation problem, and furthering the chance of diseases spreading. Her sons, 8 and 10, climbed a tree to bring me guava (a Sri Lankan fruit), and told me that they were off school for a week due to the flooding. They showed me how to open a coconut (the Sri Lankan way!) and we drank the water inside! Their grandmother was watching us and kept telling me how she thanked God for Project Hope and the help they had been given, taking my hand and refusing to let me leave!

Chandra’s mother explained the flooding to us, while thanking God for Project Hope’s help. It was amazing to get to speak to her!

When natural disasters strike, women are usually disadvantaged. They are less likely to receive access to the resources needed to survive and rebuild, more likely to be dependent on others, and also have the added responsibility of uneven expectations concerning child care. Sexual abuse and discrimination often increases at times of emergencies, and issues specific to women often go ignored. For example, sanitary pads and other female hygiene products are often forgotten, or not seen as necessary in emergency rations. At the Rosie May Foundation, we intend to continue to give support to mothers throughout the emergency and continue this long term to ensure that women receive the economic and psychological support they deserve. As the floods disappear from the news, and the aid agencies slowly depart, these families will need our support more than ever to continue their lives when everything has been destroyed by the water. We will keep visiting more families, and supporting them until they are self sufficient again.

The water level from just days before is obvious on the building

What has been touching to witness is the Sri Lankan response to the crisis; every town has set up stalls to donate dry food and water, while most people send meals of rice and curry to temples as well as more supplies where they can afford it. The Sri Lankan determination and spirit has been beautiful to witness and something that RMF takes on board in our relief efforts.

Donate now to help these families!

For just £5 you can provide a mother with:

–  24 bottles of water

– a set of clean clothes.

For just one £10 donation, you can provide a family with:
– Lentils
– Rice
– Dry fish or Soya Meat
– 24 bottles of water

This provides the essentials needed for a family in Sri Lanka who have lost their home and everything they own in the flooding

One £20 donation can provide a vulnerable family with:
– 10 kilos of rice
– 3 Kilos of Dahl
– 200g Tea
– 2 kilos Sugar
– 3 cases of water
– one set of clean clothes

 

Donate to our flooding appeal now!

Meselme School Opening

A trip to Meselme school is not easy. It involves 80km of trekking up to 3,300m over four days, and over 26 hours of off road driving. Despite the slightly daunting travel schedule, a team from the Rosie May Foundation including both founders, Mary and Graham, along with trustees from the Australian side of RMF joined SAHAS Nepal Executive Director as well as two members of the management team to trek to Meselme School.

The team on the way to Okhaldhunga district – before the walking began!

The trek was not easy, but a perfect time to reflect on life in rural Nepal for children who spend hours walking to school, walking to collect water, and growing up in conditions we could never understand in the UK. It’s also an important time to make you close as a team, and inspire you to keep working to support those in under privileged circumstances.

Our incredible porters – who are parents at Meselme School!

The school follows official government and UNICEF guidelines about earthquake resilience, with four classrooms and a staffroom. As well as this, we have provided solar powered showers to make sure that the children have a safe place to wash, and can even find warm water during winter to keep clean. As well as this, gender sensitive bathrooms are an important way to encourage girls to keep coming to school. Having a separate bathroom means they feel safe to come to school throughout the month, even during menstruation. Again, the showers act as an important facility in terms of gender equality in education, ensuring girls remain in school and feel clean and comfortable.

After travelling for two days, we reached Meselme and stayed in the house of the headteacher, who welcomed us with a meal of Daal Baat (rice and potato curry with spinach).

The next day was the official opening of Meselme School. Everyone was excited, and probably nervous as, after two years of hard work, the school was finished and ready to be handed over to the community.

Reaching Meselme School after a very long day of walking!

Community members using the new water facilities

After speeches from the headteacher and local officials, Mary Storrie, Director of RMF, said a big thank you to everyone involved in the creation of the school; the school committee, our partner SAHAS Nepal and Wangda Sherpa, who introduced us to the project. She talked about how the future of the school is in the hands of the community. The teachers, parents and children all have a role in using the facilities and making sure their school remains one they can be proud of. 

It’s hard to imagine life in rural Nepal; a lack of electricity is just one barrier from children receiving a quality education. To challenge this, RMF are working with Solmates to provide solar lights to the children of Meselme, and other rural villages. Don, trustee who works for the Australian branch  of RMF has been working tirelessly all year to provide over 300 solar lights in Nepal, and gave the students and their parents a lesson in how the solar lights work, and they listened intently, obviously happy to receive such a basic, but life changing gift.

Don, from RMF Australia, handing out lights

But the Rosie May Foundation’s involvement won’t stop there. After providing hot showers, solar lights and school uniforms, we will also be providing school meals as an added incentive to make sure that parents are sending their children to school. Shockingly, 39% of children in Nepal are malnourished and 42% are stunted. Providing a nutritious meal can make an enormous difference to the lives of children’s future, let alone their ability to concentrate in school! Often simply providing one meal can ensure that poor families know their children receive nutritious food at least once a day, and can take a lot of weight off of them. At all projects, we commit to take a long term interest and Meselme is no different! We will be supporting the school for the next few years, through school meals and capacity building of local teachers. 

The journey to Meselme was definitely tough and one that wont be forgotten! But what makes it worth it is the way that this schools acts as an example of resilience after the earthquake, but also what the Rosie May Foundation always champions: the importance of education in even the most difficult circumstances. The children of Meselme have a school to be proud, with school uniforms, lunches and even lights. The school empowers the community as a whole, and acts as an important reminder that even in rural Nepal, these children deserve, and now have access to facilities that allow them to thrive and support themselves and their families in the future.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child in Meselme, and providing school meals, email mary@rosiemay.com for more details.

Rebuilding Resilient Schools

After twelve hours in a jeep, i arrived in the rural village of Meselme, excited to visit the Rosie May Foundation’s school rebuild and see how it was coming along.

The first sight of the school rebuild

Everyone in the Rosie May office in the UK, and in SAHAS Nepal’s office (our partner) have been working really hard to finish the school, so it was definitely an exciting opportunity to come and see what all the hard work has been for.

The 2015 Nepal earthquake destroyed or damaged over 35,000 classrooms in Nepal, leaving families terrified of sending their children back to school. In Meselme, we are hoping that with a new, and earthquake safe school, parents will begin sending their children back to receive the best education possible, empowering their families to achieve their potential.

The children weren’t sure what to make of me on my first morning!

Meselme is in Okhaldhunga district of Nepal. While staying in the village I was lucky enough to visit several schools and see how the area, particularly the children, are recovering from the debilitating earthquake.

Immediately after the earthquake, TLC’s, or Temporary Learning Centre’s, were built from local materials to ensure that children were back learning as quickly as possible. These are often badly made, incredibly hot (and cold in winter), and not a suitable learning environment for children. But in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, they were an important step in returning life to normal. Now, two years on, most have been completely destroyed, and many children are still waiting for permanent schools.

A TLC close to Meselme school where children are learning

I was particularly in awe of the children going to school in just the steel frame of their new school. It was incredibly hot, and a two hour walk to reach the school, yet these children continued learning in such a challenging environment. It was incredibly humbling to see just what education can mean.

Maths lessons are difficult anywhere in the world!

Staying for nearly a week in Meselme was an incredibly rewarding experience; the people were warm and generous despite living life much more challenging than i was used to; the headteacher and his family provided me with much more food than i wanted, and really welcomed me into their family, discussing the school with me and their hopes that more children will come, and that their education can improve.

The Headteacher’s wife preparing rice and dahl

One of the most impressive things i have found about the way SAHAS work is that they involve the community in all projects by creating a committee to oversee and manage the running of the project. This means that projects always have full community support and involvement. I was invited to joint the School Management Committee meeting, in which they discussed the finishing of the school and the opening. Despite being nothing like a committee meeting in the UK, it was great to see the different voices, from labourers to parents to teachers, involved in the school.

The School Committee Meeting

Despite desperately needing a shower, I was sad to leave Meselme, the amazing little village in the Himalayas. My 12 hour off road jeep ride home to Kathmandu gave me plenty of time to reflect on the long term effects of the earthquake on education in Nepal; despite incredibly challenging circumstances, children are willing to learn and improve their situation. Watch this space to see what the finished school rebuild can do!

Volunteering for the Rosie May Foundation in Sri Lanka: through the eyes of a mature volunteer….

We have just returned from an amazing experience – seeing first-hand the incredible work of the Rosie May Foundation at Rosie May House and Project Hope.

Rachel had read a blog by a young volunteer which was posted on the Rosie May Foundation Facebook page which led her to the charity’s website. Reading the section about becoming a volunteer, her eyes were drawn to the paragraph which said “our programme especially values mature volunteers and volunteer families too”. That was the catalyst for our trip!

We travelled to Sri Lanka in a group of four – Rachel, Nigel, Helen (who is a trustee of the charity), and Maureen (altogether a combined age of 213…)!

We all had a great time working alongside the staff at the Rosie May Home for a week. What a pleasure to meet such charming girls who showed a willingness to learn and were keen to develop their English language skills.

The girls spend weekday mornings at their local school and, in the afternoon, after they’ve had lunch and completed their chores, they attend English, maths and IT classes at the RMH. We were able to help out in the English and IT classes (maths in Sinhalese was a challenge too far for us…), supporting the girls and their teachers by listening to them read, helping them complete their English workbooks and create some impressive presentations in the IT class.

We spent a fun afternoon creating some sweet treats – marshmallow rice crispy cakes, chocolate cornflake cakes and coconut ice. It was organised chaos!! We had expected to be cooking with 6 of the younger girls but the older girls’ IT class was cancelled so we had around 16 all at once! The girls loved it. The marshmallows were melted in the pan used to fry spices so they had an interesting flavour, and we used fresh coconut for the coconut ice and forgot to adjust the amount of condensed milk so it didn’t set – they were a beautiful shocking pink though as the food colouring was added a bit too enthusiastically!

We took a lot of arts and crafts bits and pieces with us and the girls enjoyed making wool pom-poms and puppets from wooden spoons and paper doilies; a lot of enthusiasm and patient artistic flair was demonstrated by the girls – and also by some of the staff!

Alongside our time at RMH, we also spent some time at Project Hope – an initiative run in partnership with the Manacare Foundation to support single mothers, where Nigel and Helen helped create some budget spreadsheets, and set out a business model for the women making and selling incense sticks. It was a privilege to meet women who were so committed to making a difference to their lives and striving to give their children a better future.

Rachel had been asked to teach teeth cleaning to the RMH girls. She did teach the girls and they found it amusing to use the disclosing tablets we’d brought with us – purple teeth and tongues all round! In addition, she taught around 160 pre-school children and their parents. We really wish we’d known how many children there would be though because we were given lots of things to take with us including toothbrushes and toothpaste – if we’d known we could have aimed for a toothbrush per child. Something to aim for on our next trip, maybe?

We were lucky to be at RMH at the same time as Mary, which meant we were able to join the girls on a trip to the beach in Galle. To begin with, the girls seemed reluctant to paddle in the sea but they were soon jumping the waves, running around, and splashing us and each other. We ended the afternoon with snacks in a beachside café and the girls were honestly the most well behaved girls we have seen. They were a delight to spend time with.

We would just like to add a big thank you to Amara Miss and all the staff at RMH who were very welcoming and friendly.

From Helen, Rachel, Nigel, Maureen!

Down at the Farm-Charity Family Fun Day

If you have recently stayed in the loop with all Rosie May activities via the blog, you will know that Mary and Laura are currently in Nepal working with our NGO partner SAHAS Nepal on our various projects (see here).

An important part of our partnership with SAHAS is assisting the development of organic and sustainable agricultural by supporting this amazing Women’s Progressive Group in Nepal (read about Laura’s visit by clicking here!)

Back in August the Rosie May Foundation hosted a fun filled charity family fun day, ‘Down at the Farm’ to raise money for the women’s group. I had the pleasure of interning for the Rosie May Foundation over summer and had the task of organising this day for an incredible cause!

Located at the Eco-Centre Community Care Farm, in Screveton Bingham the vision for the day was simple- a family orientated day out that encouraged people to enjoy the beautiful natural environment surrounding the farm and raise money for the RMF’s and Eco-Centre’s joint projects for the women’s progressive group in Nepal. A 5k Fun Run had been a vision of Farmer David (Owner of the Eco-Centre) for a while now- so we wanted to put that vision to reality while having fun and games after the run on the farm.

The day raised an incredible £1390.00 for the cause, so thank you so much for everyone that came and supported the event! We had a turn out of an incredible 41 runners for our main event 5k farm fun run and you would not have guessed it but we didn’t even have a drop of rain! (Whoever said organising an outdoor event in British summer time was hard clearly never experienced RMF spirit, determination and optimism!)

Thanks to Jane Lewis, trustee of the charity and personal trainer who did a fantastic job for warming up the runners before their 5k run! It was a personal highlight of the day, after the hustle and bustle of mad organisation- it was amazing to see the 41 5k runners lined up and spread out, undertaking their pre-run warm ups, with music blasting out, people giggling and having fun- it was really special to see all these people who had turned up ready to run for our cause together.

After the 5k we had a little bit of everything for everyone to get involved with- we had a family nature trail around the farm, a British Scone Bake Off, Welly Wanging, Goat Racing and trailer rides on the farm!

Overall we had just over 100 people attending the day, what was especially nice was that we reached out to a diverse group, from loyal RMF and Eco-Centre supporters and sponsors to families from the Bingham area who had never visited the Eco-Centre and wanted to learn more.

This was a first time event for the RMF and Eco-Centre but after the incredible success of the day we hope to make it an annual event for all to enjoy!

To all that attended on the day, to all those who sweated and ached from the 5k run, to the media and local businesses that helped advertise our event, to all the volunteers that made the event possible- a huge thank you from the RMF, you ran, did welly wanging, ate yummy cakes and scones all for a fantastic and meaningful cause in Nepal.

I’d also like to end on the note that interning for the Rosie May Foundation over summer was a truly rewarding and incredible experience. The work RMF does is inspiring and meaningful, while the RMF team itself is driven, motivated and I feel incredibly thankful to have spent time with such a fantastic and lovely team!!!

Scroll through the photos of the day from our official photographer Pete Sharman here on Flickr.

Sending RMF love to all! xxxxxxxxx

 

The Amazing Power of Female Farmers

We arrived quite late to Chitwan due to festival traffic in Nepal. The village inside Nepal’s national park is home to an inspirational group of women who support their community through farming.

Collecting Milk

The Women’s Progressive Group are a collection of strong, determined and empowered women who work together to improve their lives. There are 189 members in total which is divided into 11 subgroups. There are 21 members in the group we visited and it was a real pleasure to get a chance to talk to them about the challenges they’ve faced, and how they work to overcome them.

The group make an impressive sight; they all wear a uniform, a pink Sari, which demonstrates their organisation and empowered mindset.

The amazing Women’s Progressive Group all in pink – an RMF colour!

It has taken these women three attempts to form the Women’s Progressive Group. Through help from SAHAS they have made significant improvements to the community through success in commercial vegetable farming. They have had to fight every step of the way, with their husbands and male relatives telling them it couldn’t be done, and even  being threatened by Police. They have encouraged the community to help each other and work together and six years of hard work have paid off as they now have a meeting place and they’re setting up a local shop selling items at a more affordable rate than the local market.

Director and Co-Founder Mary Storrie with children from the local community

As night drew close we sat under cover listening to the women tell their own stories. One woman used to make and sell local alcohol in her village. Through the support of these women, she took out a loan to buy a cow. Now, she has ten cows and is halfway through paying back her loan. She made the decision to take a risk, which as a woman in Nepal is no easy task, and the risk has paid off. Her son has chosen to come back from the Arab Emirates, and work in Nepal, building an extra floor on their house to raise chickens. This is an exciting grass roots demonstration of the power of youth in Nepal, who can work together to improve the economy, rather than moving abroad and sending back remittances.

Their amazing appearance matches their incredible spirit and sense of simply making things happen. They are confident and articulate women with a great sense of humour. After the success of our UK farm day, the Rosie May Foundation will be working with this group to build a water tank for these women and will soon be sending out volunteers to share ideas and knowledge from the UK and abroad!

Watch this space…

The women tell us their stories as it gets dark

The Long Walk to Mangri

Mangri Village is a day’s walk from SAHAS district headquarters in Mugu, Nepal. The remote village is a remarkable example of people living in extreme circumstances. Mary, Graham and I arrived, with a team from our partner NGO SAHAS Nepal, to be greeted with a cup of hot herbal tea, and a chance to sit down after a very long day of walking.

District Headquarters, Mugu, Nepal

After a rest, we walked across the village to visit the Girl’s Hostel, the reason we were there. It was humbling to know that many children walked for much further than we had to go to the school in this village. The girl’s hostel, supported by RMF, provides a safe place for girls to stay and receive a good education.

The Rosie May Foundation had recently funded the building of bathroom’s for the girls, as well as desks, and piped water. We spoke to the girls staying in the hostel and they told us that before, they had ventured to the water point to wash, and felt unsafe as boys watched them. When the village had water shortages, the girls were often unable to get water, and treated badly by the villagers who took priority. The water pipe, provided by RMF, has two separate sections, giving water to 145 homes in the village, as well as a separate tap for the girls in the hostel, ensuring that the girls have access to water and privacy in their hostel.

Surendra Shrestha, Director of SAHAS Nepal talking to a girl staying in the hostel

Director of RMF, Mary, with a group of children from Mangari

The Girl’s Hostel

The next morning, Mary and Graham officially opened the new facilities at the hostel. Watching the girls collect the water was an incredibly powerful reminder of the reality of life for girls in such a remote community; education often remains a distant dream for girls who live too far from school, or have schools of poor quality. Often, parents choose to marry their daughter’s off too young, rather than letting them finish their education. The girl’s hostel is a chance for these girls to receive an education, and The Rosie May Foundation, and SAHAS, support them to live safely while they do this.

Girls from the hostel walking to school

After the opening at the hostel, we were welcomed by the whole community. Sitting in the school playground, we heard speeches from girls at the hostel, as well as the headteacher. Dr Surendra Shrestha, Executive Director of SAHAS Nepal talked about their work in the village, and Mary spoke of The Rosie May Foundation‘s vision of equality for girls, particularly the chance to receive an equal education and achieve their potential. We watched an amazing array of cultural dances, which i got to participate in with some of the local teenagers.

On our way back from Mangri, we stopped in another community and saw SAHAS’ work to promote and develop organic and sustainable agriculture. I have been constantly impressed with the work of SAHAS, who create a community based organisation, run by local people who can discuss how best to develop their community. All projects are undertaken with full community participation, while the same cannot be said for all NGOs. We learnt about the initiative to bring toothbrushes to the local school, and how popular this had been.

I will be back to Mangri Village in a couple of months to spend time with the girls in the hostel and learn more about their lives. For now, the Rosie May Foundation will continue to work for the empowerment of children, particularly girls, through education, and remain in awe of the inspirational people who live in Nepal’s remote communities.