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TO APPLY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP click here.
READ OUR NEWSLETTERS UNDER NEWS & EVENTS!
JUNE 2010
Namaste and Happy Summer!
I am back from a very successful trip to Nepal, and happy to
report that much of what the Foundation set out to do was accomplished.
Stories about the trip along with fabulous photos of the country and
our current scholarship recipients are in the Spring newsletter.
We have just finished selecting our 2010/2011 scholarship
recipients. This year, for the first time, we are doubling our
scholarships to TEN and are extremely pleased to be able to do this.
None of it would be possible without the generous support of all of you
who are committed to making a real difference in the world, one woman at
a time, and for that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Check out the Recipients tab for an introduction to our new recipients!
Sonnia J. Karlsson
Founder / Executive Director
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If we take a moment to spin a globe, pausing our fingers on some of the poorest countries in the world, we will touch mostly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The names of the countries appear on the same lists of "growing concerns" or "rises in" the following social conditions: poverty, child slavery, child prostitution, child marriage, AIDS, lack of education, poor health, etc. The list is a mile long, and the list is not gender neutral, but disproportionately affecting females the world over. In most developing countries, we know that women are responsible for more physical work on a daily basis than men, but that work is often not reflected in any economic or social advancement for women as it is either unpaid agricultural work for the family, or, factory work that puts rice on the table with nothing leftover for her own development.
In poor countries, such as Nepal where I have spent time living, studying and working with orphans over the years, I have seen first-hand that educating girls is often a family's lowest priority. Education, whether public or private, costs money. The mere cost of a uniform and a pair of shoes, or paper and pencil can simply get in the way of even more basic needs. Besides, why would you lose another hand around the family farm by sending your daughter off to school if you didn't have to?
As there are few role models of successful Nepali women, especially in rural Nepal, the question to educate them is often not even considered--it is just an assumed tradition not to. I believe one of the reasons for this is that people in rural villages seldom see female teachers, still one of the most respected professions in South Asia. As an educator in the U.S., I can tell you that if our population had the reverence for teachers and the appreciation for receiving an education that the few who are so privileged in Nepal do, test scores would not be the current topic of conversation here! Nepal needs a hardcore investment in educating young girls, not just on an individual basis to balance the scales, but to put female teachers in schools as role models across one of the most geographically disjointed countries on the planet. Only then will there be large-scale change.
With the aftermath of the Maoist impact upon society which brought fatigues, weapons, and autonomy to young girls and women as they left their homes, traditional values, and stereotypes to fight for communist ideals, however misunderstood or misdirected, those females tasted something unique in the country's history: temporary moments of equality with males. Nepali girls are very eager for change, and the change they are eager for, equality, could come about in a peaceful manner through education reform and support from feminists all over the world.
Education is personal, not just on the level of a single teacher interacting and encouraging one student, but in the choices the student makes about her future from the realm of what's possible.
I believe Nepal is a place on the verge of a civil rights movement. Just like in our country's past, with individuals of different economic or racial backgrounds supporting other disenfranchised individuals, we can make a difference.
There are a number of ways to support girl's education in Nepal ranging from tuition support to organizations that rescue women from the slave or sex trade and offer them a new life. Make sure the one you select fits your non-profit criteria and matches your philosophy.
Jennifer Bennett
President
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