| Username |
Post |
| NK |
Posted
on 04-Aug-02 10:48 AM
Test
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| NK |
Posted
on 04-Aug-02 11:09 AM
Hi all,
I have been trying to post this for quite some time, so here I am!
Several months ago I had made a brief announcement on this board that the US chapter of ADAWAN (Assoication for Dalit Women's Advancement of Nepal) was going to hold a fund-raising event in Lexington, MA. The event was yard sale as shown in the photograph.
Five hard working women (my contribution was minimum) with some of help from some of their spouse in varying degree made that Saurday afternoon a great success. It was also successful to give us confidence that we are capable of raising money and we can be a force (even a small one) to bring some change in Nepali society. It also gave our donor a vivid example that we are serious about our mission. We were able to raise more than $1500 that day.
The reason I do not hesitate to show the dollar figure is to show that our account is transparent. Whoever is curious and want to contribute in any way are welcome to look at our book keeping and see where the money is going. So far we don't have any administration cost but that will change in near future, as it should. This will affect only the organization worker in Nepal not here.
Empower Dalit Women, the US chapter of ADAWAN has five members. We are working on our Tax-free Status and we hope to get it by the end of this year. I don't want this posting so long that people stop reading in the middle but if you have any question please post it.
NK
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| Gokul |
Posted
on 04-Aug-02 04:46 PM
Thou art that with exchequered cornucopia?
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| NK |
Posted
on 04-Aug-02 05:26 PM
Gokul, my friend and my Gurudev! :)
I will tell you if you promise to pledge! How about that?
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| paramendra |
Posted
on 04-Aug-02 05:34 PM
Impressive.
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| NK |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 09:54 AM
O! Paramendra with a real neat photo. What has impressed thou so?
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 12:10 PM
NK, great job.
Hope cornucopea will prevail.
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| Dhumbasse (dumbass) |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 12:39 PM
Yo NK bhanya CHora Manche hola bhanthanya ta chori manche po paricha. tara Kam chahi Ramro garya Rahicha.
Aru sabai ta thikkai thiyo, Sanstha ko naamko agadi chahi "DALIT" kina Rakhanu Parya hola, tyo Pani AMERIKA ma basera. ALi manama chussa bijhyo nam sunera.
Aaphno manasthiti arulai kina dekhaunu hola? Ramro kam garna nam pani Ramrai chaneko bhaye "Sunma Sugandha " hunethyo. Nam sunda pani manislai utsaha hos, garba hos. Namai 'Dalit' rakhe pachi yeso sunda pani manai khishrikka. Kaso!
Photo chahi ghacchiko cha. Tyo photoma tapai nai ho ta Kurta Suruwal lagayeko, NK? Ali Tadha bata Niyalera hernu paryo hunale sodheko. Ramri Dekhya cha. la!
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| NK |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 12:49 PM
D. babu, Sorry to disappoint you if you thought I was a male. Another disappointment: No, I am not with the kurta salwar on . Kurta salwar wali ji is the president. And she *does* come from Dalit caste. I will let her speak about our sanstha. She may come here once her classes are done for today.
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| deep |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 01:57 PM
Ghach.chiko ta kaam garai re chha ni photo bhanda ta.
NK, Ghach.chi ko kaam ko lagi Ghach.chi square dhanyabad ani ghac.chi kai subha-kanama.
Before you protest against excessive use of ghac.chiko, let me get out of here.
Great job.
P.S. tyo photo le katai Paramendra lai jiskayeko ta haina?
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| Dhumbasse (dumbass) |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 02:54 PM
Thik Cha NK, I will wait. However,I must say that i disagree with you when you mention about a Dalit Caste. May be we need to have both of you and discuss what I have learnt by not judging one because what family they are born into or , by what caste they belong to . You might not agree with me because that is your freedom, I absolutley respect that . Similarly, I do firmly believe that your president is not going to change the name of the association even after I say what i have to say and i again will respect that full heartedly. But being a non-believer in caste system, when I first read the name on your posting , I was a little apprehensive about the name given to the organization,which i do not blame on you, and hence was my posting.
Surely here in Amerika, people are gonna come to you and ask you, out of curiosity, what is the meaning of that particular word. When you explain it , they will definitely sympathize which is a good thing in a short term, but my personal opinion says "No-No' in the long term. The first and foremost reason is that any organization that intends to do something good to those nepalese women back home,whether they belong to Dalit or not -Dalit, wants to uplift their condition by any means and brings justice to those who suffer, shouldnot itself be named as one that the people sympathize over and support, but agree with the humane aspirations and support. In another word, if we are not strong ourselves, we can not assure someone that we can make them strong. If we are not rich , we can not tell anyone we would enrich them, and , finally, if our base is sahky, we can not ensure others would have that support we speak of when we go to them. They will have no faith in us.
You and your president might argue that ' nam me kya rakkha hai', everything depends on how we work, than it is your sanstha, your house , your rules. I do not have anything to say, and do not think anyone would have, coz it is your business. It was just a suggestion since what you are doing is a great thing very little number of people can think of.
PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| oys_chill |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 03:54 PM
mmm its strange..but after i read all this, I kinda agree with our dumbass bro up here.. He has a subtle point if you could understand........The name tag seems TO ME kinda fishing for sympathy kinda thing.....maybe i misunderstood..
no offences meant ! but its absolutely praiseworthy what NK and the sanstha is doing....
and no offences to NK, i thought she only wrote poems that drove everyone insane!
brain_hacked
oys
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| Paschim |
Posted
on 05-Aug-02 08:14 PM
Great work NK.
By the way if people are keen to partake in a drive, that's already quite advanced having raised Rs. 150,000 so far, to set up a quality social science library in kathmandu by either donating money or books, please contact george@taf.org.np (or me at kautilya100@yahoo.com). we'll send you more details. all contributions in cash or kind will be most generously acknowledged.
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| NK |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 08:51 AM
Pyaro Didi Bahini thatha Daju Bhai haru, (ahem)
Thank you for all the encouraging words. First of all, this organization is not about me. I just happen to be an enthusiastic poster here and, I volunteered to post this event. What was that again? Kam garney aley jas pauney bhale or something like that.
Some of you seem to not to like the name. You thought it begs for special treatment- "fishing for sympathy" as oys chill says. And also at the same time you are saying ‘nam mey kya rakha hai?’ I think if Shakespeare had lived in our life time, he would have said, "Name is what it is. If you call rose a rose only then you can smell the rose!" These days people spend millions to come up with the right *sounding* (forget about the meaning) name for their company. Does anybody know what 'Accenture' mean? Nothing! And, “formerly known as Anderson” paid some big bucks to some Swiss company to come up with that name. So, yes, Name is the first thing you get acquainted with when you don't know anything about that organization, person, place etc....
Bishnu Pariyar, the founder and the President of US Chapter, wanted to say as it is. She wanted to form an organization for the upliftment of the caste she came from and all the other oppressed women thus the name: ‘Association for Dalit Women’s Advancement in Nepal.’ This may have been a direct translation of Nepali name but I don’t have it with me now. ( I was hoping Bishnu would come and talk about it). After a lengthy brain storming session (lasted many weeks. Did not have name for a long time), we managed to come up with this name: Empower Dalit Women. But of course if we hear more noise against the name we will rethink. We all know nothing is permanent, right?
Nearly six years of the founding of this organization, it is continuously trying to reach out and branch out. We just sent some money to build a roof of a school that was blown away in last tornado! We have sent money to buy school uniform for a dozen or so students and we are planning to send a girl down to Kathmandu to get health aid education.
Please contact eekasell@yahoo.com if you have any question or you would like to donate.
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| Soleil |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 09:52 AM
NKji.......kam ta sarhaniya garnu bha ho...tara nam chahi yeso milena.....thaha bhayo nam ta President le rakhnu bhako kyare....tapain ko haath chhaina.....tara duita kura....
1. pahila aafaile aafailai dalit bhanera aafailai kina hocho dekhaune....helaa garne? "manis thulo dil le hunchha jaat le hundaina"...
2. ke nepal ma "dalit" barga ka swasni manchhe lai matra maathi uthauna jaroori dekhnu hunchha? aru barga ka swasni manchhe pani uttikai pidit chhan......dalit nam lai tyagera samagra nepali mahila ko uthhan ma lage sun ma sugandha hunthyo ki?
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| Dhumbasse (dumbass) |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 10:52 AM
Maile mathi june prasanga utahyen namko barema, ra kamko barema Sarahana gareko chu, tyes bhitra ko sallaha pani Soneli le mathi bhnejahi garna khojeko hu.
"NKji.......kam ta sarhaniya garnu bha ho...tara nam chahi yeso milena.....thaha bhayo nam ta President le rakhnu bhako kyare....tapain ko haath chhaina.....tara duita kura....
1. pahila aafaile aafailai dalit bhanera aafailai kina hocho dekhaune....helaa garne? "manis thulo dil le hunchha jaat le hundaina"...
2. ke nepal ma "dalit" barga ka swasni manchhe lai matra maathi uthauna jaroori dekhnu hunchha? aru barga ka swasni manchhe pani uttikai pidit chhan......dalit nam lai tyagera samagra nepali mahila ko uthhan ma lage sun ma sugandha hunthyo ki? "
Mero bicharma aru pani daju bhai didi haruko yes barema ( namko Barma ) ke bichar cha janna paye hunthyo. Bhalai ma tyo sanstha sanga yetikhera sharrik rupma sambandhit chaina, tara manle chu kinabhane ma pani Nepali ko choro hu ra mero sanskriti ra samajma lageko yo Aijheru ( Cast system) lai 'hamile nai thanko na lagaye areu kasaile kyai pani lachardainan ' bhanne bichar rakhdachu.
PEACE ................................
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| ananta |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 11:04 AM
How about to replace DALIT by OPPRESED(utpidit)[caste] woman ??
'Oppressed' word may represent all 'pidit' mahila including so called low caste mahila.
Any opinions???
EMPOWER OPPRESSED WOMEN IN NEPAL
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| way 2 go dalit ladies! |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 11:06 AM
i think it's really great that dalit ladies are here in the amrika and are empowering themselves with the help of these fundraising activities!
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| Nams |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 03:48 PM
NK,
I am sure this organization will do a great job. I have been reading all the responses from the people and for some reason I don't understand what DALIT means. What is it? Sincerely, I am not against the name ...i just want to know what it stands for.
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| Bishnu |
Posted
on 06-Aug-02 09:52 PM
Thanks Namita to introduce this organization. I wanted to post before in this thread but I was so busy with my PROTPHOLIO which I am going to present in last week of this month. It is killing me. I am still struggling for it. I hate writing especially in English. After I read all the posting I feel like I have to write something specially Namita asked me to speak about this. I don’t have time to explain everyone’s concern because my advisor wants me to finish my OUTCOMES in this week. I just want to write short introduction about this organization. Also I request all of you to come to the CHHALPHAL PROGRAM in November 28th (It may change in November 21 because 28th is Thanksgiving Day) Thanks Shailesh Gongal who encouraged me to talk in this program. I will explain every thing also we are preparing for POWER POINT presentation about this organization for that day. Namita May I request you to explain why did we use Dalit word on this name I am sure you can answer because we had long discussion over this right? Association for Dalit Women’s Advancement in Nepal is Non profit org. which was registered in 13 /8/1998 . the target of this org is
1, To improve the education standared of oppressed women
2 to make the oppressed women economically strong
3, to remove the social discrimination prevailing between oppressed people and so-called high caste people.
4,To improve the health condition of oppressed people
“the word dalit literally means "a person immersed in a swamp." Traditionally, Dalits have been treated inhumanely as "Untouchables." Although untouchability was abolished by the New National Code of Nepal in 1963, its practice still continues. If you are from kathmandu we may don’t know how terrible it is. The people belonging to this community are living in a swamp of illiteracy, exploitation, marginalisation, absolute poverty and, above all, caste discrimination. Dalit women, however, are triply oppressed: (1) oppressed by the so-called high caste people, which equally affects both male and female Dalits, (2) oppressed by the design of the Hindu patriarchal system and (3) oppressed by Dalit males” . That’s the reason this organization’s main aim is to fight against social injustice by empowering Dalit community. I will write more about this tomorrow. Good night.
Bishnu
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| BHAUN AND NEWAR |
Posted
on 07-Aug-02 12:29 AM
Bishnu ,
whatever u said it's true, everone must agree coz we are in us so we don't fell that way abt caste but we should think abt whole nepal where there is a lot of different ant abot our feelind and thoutht.Being in usa ,Uk ,japan whatever we shouldn't feel that way . If u can help those people if not u people have don't any right to make fun of those people.okay u jerk .
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| Nams |
Posted
on 07-Aug-02 07:40 AM
Bishnu,
So, do u have an office in Nepal? If yes, then can people go there and volunteer or intern?
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| sally |
Posted
on 07-Aug-02 09:18 AM
Great job--$1500 from a single yard sale! Keep it up, let us know when the group has its 501 (c) (3), and please do share any info about what is being done with the $1500 back in Nepal.
I'm wondering if San would see fit to start a link on the home page (yet another one) to non-profits. People could post info about their groups, contacts, etc. For instance, I see that Paschim has something going on about a social science library--if I came across a bunch of books in a few months it would be nice to come back to sajha and contact him easily without having to scroll thru all the old posts.
On the name: C'mon, it's fine. If it were called "Empower Oppressed Women" then just about every woman in Nepal could join, too--definitely including Brahmins!
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| NK |
Posted
on 07-Aug-02 09:55 AM
Bishnu,
You have explained everything regarding this name so I am not going to "explain" on the name 'Dalit' anymore. My apologies to all those people who would like to debate and argue on this infinitely. If you live in and around Boston and if you could come what actually this organization *does* please come to the talk.
Sally, Yes I will post about our Tax exempt issue as it progresses. As I speak we are in the process of filling out the firms. We had had some help from lawyers pro-bono.
Yes, It was a successful fund-raising event. We had advertised in local newspapers and send email to friends and friends of the friends. People sometimes gave 20 dollars for a 5 dollar goods and some artists had donated their art piece and so on. We are going to do it again around September. Come! :) :) Free Refreshment!! And maybe Pizza too!
I will post tonight what we did with that money. This was not the first fund-raising event we had had. Eva Kassell, the driving force behind the US Chapter, had held another sale in her house before this one. And there are benefactors who send us checks and so on. So we do have some fund left and we plan to spend this wisely of course. We have some immediate goals and long term. Let's see what will happen.
NK
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| paramendra |
Posted
on 07-Aug-02 06:54 PM
Well, NK, what I meant was the work done is impressive, the cause is impressive. Someone like me not actively contributing to what you are doing can at the least say a few positive words.
Keep it up. All the best.
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| Himani |
Posted
on 08-Aug-02 12:50 AM
Name sounds just fine to me. As far as I am concern, 'Dalit' word speaks for itself. When I here it, it doesn't sound like it is asking for sympathy. What else people want to hear (the politically correct names)?
Association for Nepali Castly Challenged Women
Association for Castly Challenge Women's Advancement of Nepal
Empower Not so upper cast Women
Empower (we are not talking about) CAST Women
Or any of you who don't like the Name has any suggestion?
Himani
P.S. My posting came a bit late. Bishnu you did a good job explaining. Thanks.
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| Bishnu |
Posted
on 08-Aug-02 07:21 AM
This is the only statemrnt of this organization . My god mother EVA KASSEL who went to Nepal with me last year and saw this program wrote herself. Namita will post further program that we had just started. could you Namita about health program, three new women's group uniform for 117 dalit student, money for school in Gorkha( Shree Sinjali secondary school) and ful scholrship for 13 students.
EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN OF NEPAL
EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN OF NEPAL is a small grassroots organization, dedicated to enable Dalit (low-caste) women and all disenfranchised people in Nepal to fight for their human rights. Through education, literacy training and empowerment groups, EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN aims to foster a measure of economic independence, to boost self-esteem, and to instill solidarity and a sense of national pride.
BACKGROUND
Much of Nepal’s population has for centuries suffered under the caste system, an integral part of the Hindu religion, which determines an individual’s occupation, status, access to land etc. Nepal is home to 5 million Dalits, a term used to describe the lower rungs of the caste ladder. Although illegal, caste discrimination is deeply ingrained in Nepali society and widely practiced, especially in rural areas.
Dalits and women in particular, are mostly illiterate and have no advocates within the Nepali high-caste establishment. They suffer discrimination in innumerable ways, notably in terms of access to education, health care and jobs. They are shunned by the rest of society, abused and humiliated in untold ways. They are barred from entering the temples and forbidden to use common water sources. Lower-caste people and lower-caste women in particular, suffer greatly from lack of self-esteem and have no tradition of solidarity. Dalits often do not even consider themselves citizens (of Nepal).
Women and girls from all of Nepali society are often subject to physical and emotional abuse even in their own families and communities, due to ingrained religious and cultural bias against women. An estimated 50.000 Nepali women and children, a large percentage of them Dalits, have been trafficked to Indian brothels.
Women are economically completely dependent on the men in the family, and can not inherit property. Boys get the more nutritious and plentiful meals, are more likely to be sent to school and to receive medical treatment. The literacy rate for women is half that for men.
BEGINNINGS
EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN OF NEPAL was founded in 1996 by Bishnu Maya Pariyar (then 20 years old). Born to a family of low-caste subsistence farmers in a remote village in Western Nepal, she had to overcome remarkable obstacles to become a social worker. Ms. Pariyar is currently in the United States to expand her education and to find sponsors for her organization. EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN focuses specifically on low-caste women in inaccessible communities, largely overlooked by the established development community and off the beaten path of trekkers.
A group of Nepali and American volunteers in Boston have recently formed an American arm of EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN.
PROGRAMS
The Savings and Loan Groups
As a member of a savings and loan group, each woman must contribute 10 or 20 rupees (15-30 cents) at the mandatory monthly meetings. From the growing pool, the members can borrow money for small enterprises, such as buying and raising a goat, buying inventory to start a small store etc. At the meetings, the members repay their loans with interest. The group may also lend money to the community at large. Once a group is established, it is self-sustaining, and only accountable to the members.
• Literacy as Key to Empowerment
After motivation and trust building in the community, literacy training is the first step towards creating a savings and loan group. A volunteer teacher, generally someone from the community, must commit to teaching every night for two hours. After three months, most of the women are able to read a simple text, to write and to do simple math necessary for accounting.
• Empowerment and Social Benefits
Besides the obvious economic gains, belonging to a group gives a woman status and a measure of independence. The groups foster a can-do attitude in their communities, and have initiated community improvement projects, such as clean-ups. In many cases, the groups have successfully fought against domestic violence, which is often entwined with alcoholism and gambling. In cases of medical emergencies, the groups have enabled individuals to be brought for treatment. In a variety of situations, the groups give emotional support to the individual. The groups vigorously encourage schooling of all children.
• Breaking down the Caste Hierarchy
In some groups, women of higher caste have been admitted as an experiment. It has resulted in new relationships across caste lines and improved understanding on both sides of the divide. Within such groups, women from different castes can now drink from the same water source, a revolutionary development.
• Low Cost and Sustainability
EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN provides new groups with seed money to get the fund started, and cover cost of literacy material and a lantern. Women from established groups are helping to create new groups in other communities as well as in their own. Men, initially hostile to the idea, have replicated the idea and started their own savings and loan groups.
Scholarship Program
A scholarship program for low-caste children is currently supporting over 200 elementary school children, 20 high school students and 10 young women in college, who are pursuing careers as teachers and health care workers. They plan to use their education to serve the Dalit community. EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN is actively seeking sponsors to expand this scholarship program.
School Improvement Project
As a pilot project in community partnership, EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN is starting a fund to enlarge and upgrade the overcrowded and dilapidated school in Taklung, Gorkha. EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN will cover the cost of materials, the community will provide the labor.
THE FUTURE
The plans include: expanding the number of women’s groups to new communities, further development of the existing groups through training and development, especially in the field of public health and child development, as well as improved teacher training.
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| manashalu |
Posted
on 08-Aug-02 10:27 AM
>>, three new women's group uniform for 117 dalit student, money for school in Gorkha( Shree Sinjali secondary school) and ful scholrship for 13 students.
As a former high school student from Gorkha, I am glad to see this. GOOD WORK. KEEP IT UP.
Our sajha veteran Paschim also must be very glad coz'
...EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN is starting a fund to enlarge and upgrade the overcrowded and dilapidated school in Taklung, Gorkha. ...... familiar place of his early days.
Manashalu(ananta)
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| LamjungKunchha |
Posted
on 08-Aug-02 10:33 AM
Bishnu and NKji
What a benevolent cause! I have been thinking of doing something like this for a long time. I live in west coast. Please let me know how I can help. Do you have a website where I can get more info?
Thanks
Keep up the good work
All the way from Lamjung....
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| NK |
Posted
on 09-Aug-02 05:44 AM
Lamjunkunchaji,
No, we don't have a website yet. Even the organization itself is six years old, our chapter is less than a year. As we were thinking of all the nitty gritty to get this chapter up and running, Eva on her own was raising money to send it to Nepal. So a big paralle processing was going on and still does. However, we do have an official brochure and official contact address.
YOu could help our organization by writing a check, of course. :] If you send me your address, I wil send you our brochure and maybe a 'working plan' sheet to give you a glimpse what we are set out to do and how we are working to make the US chapter a viable fund-raising, consciousness building organization.
You can click on my name to send me an email.
Thank you for your interest to help us.
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| villageVoice |
Posted
on 09-Aug-02 06:11 AM
NK,
Been missing all this rich discussion. Keep up the great work - your dalit project, I mean :)
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| Bishnu |
Posted
on 09-Aug-02 07:19 AM
"As a former high school student from Gorkha, I am glad to see this. GOOD WORK. KEEP IT UP"
Manaslu where are you from I mean which part of Gorkha? Where are you now? We are trying to launch our program other part of Gorkha where most of the oppressed people are living. We also support other caste women and children who are needy.We already had three mix castes' women'group. We provided scholarship and school uniform for other caste children as well. Please feel free to write to me. I will send you more informations about our program. We need to do something to boost women and children's situation.
Bishnu
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| LamjungKunchha |
Posted
on 09-Aug-02 09:31 AM
NKji
Thanks for your response. Is cash the only way I can help? What about school kits, clothings, beddings and other stuffs? Will that be helpful? Please email me lamjungkunchha@yahoo.com.
Thanks
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| NK |
Posted
on 09-Aug-02 07:59 PM
Thanks Village Voice! And, Nams, yes we do have an office in Kathmandu. Here is the address: Post Box No. 11016, K.P.C. 192
Dillibazar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Yes you could definitely do some volunteer work. You can go to Gorkha and teach. Give adult education class, give a class on basic health and cleanliness, or you can even construct a latrine! How about that? Of course the village will help you on that.
I would have provided my email address here but for obvious reason I don't want to do that. I hope people will understand. But if you want know more and keep in touch you can always send me or Bishnu email through Sajha. I have provided Eva's email in my previous posting. You can write to her too. Thank you for showing the interest.
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| Eva Kasell |
Posted
on 09-Aug-02 08:26 PM
On behalf of the rest of the board (five American women besides Namita and Bishnu) of EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN: Thank you for all the support and encouragement!
Please understand that EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN OF NEPAL is still in its infancy; but we are dead serious about our purpose. Once we have our tax-free status, we intend to apply for grants, and dedicate ourselves to fundraising in a big way. Right now we are in the process of creating a structure for the organization, deciding how exactly we will deliver our services in Nepal etc. We have the beginning of a structure in ASSOCIATION FOR DALIT WOMEN’S ADVANCEMENT OF NEPAL, created by Bishnu, but no central office, because of our meager budget we have only cotact office . But setting up a central office in Kathmandu is high on our list of goals in the near future.
The backbone of EMPOWER DALIT WOMEN and the Nepali sister organization ADWAN is self reliance and empowerment through education and training, building self confidence, tolerance and solidarity, while improving the living standard of the whole community. We will spend most of our funds on creating self sustaining literacy led savings and loan groups, the rest on scholarships for children and on young women, who will be trained to help their communities with health issues.
Bishnu’s vision and efforts on behalf of her people have inspired us all to act. She, a young low caste girl from a poor family in a remote village, created ADWAN out of nothing but incredibly hard work, dedication and compassion. Targeting Dalit women is totally justified, because it is the single group most in need with a wide distribution in Nepal, and also greatly neglected by other NGOs and INGOs.
As for our name, yes, most Americans do not know what Dalit means, but that gives us a welcome occasion to explain about the caste system. Drawing a parallel to the history of discrimination against African Americans is useful. Our purpose is to help Dalit women, but also to inform the rest of the world about their predicament.
If anyone is interested, I will be happy to send a list of our activities to date.
Eva
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