Tara Foundation Project
Life in Nepal is hard. Life in rural Nepal is very hard. Life as a female in a village in Nepal is extremely hard. You will probably live in a home without electricity or running water. You will eat only what your family can grow or rear. You will have very little furniture and an open fire will burn in the one room in which your family live. Walking to school, if there is one, is likely to be anything between two and four hours away and you will walk across rough terrain in all weathers to get there. You will have little, if any access, to health facilities. You may have one change of clothing, but probably not. Then you will start to bleed.
You will have no idea what is happening to you only that you are afraid and worry that you are going to die. No one will tell you what, why or when this happens. You will be told that it is normal and you will free bleed or use anything to hand which may result in soreness and infection. You will have no safe and hygienic sanitary protection.That means you are unable to leave the home, have to try to wash the blood away in a local stream and wait for it to stop. You cannot go to school or complete any chores. And that’s the good news.
If you live in a village where Chhaupadi is the norm you will be segregated from the family, made to live in an outside shed with others who are menstruating and barred from touching anything for fear you will contaminate it and render it useless. You will be considered to be impure.
DCWC Tara Project aims to address this by providing Nepali women with the opportunity to learn more and make their own reusable sanitary protection. We aim to provide sewing machines, all suitable materials to make sanitary kits alongside a comprehensive education programme, which will afford girls and women the privacy and freedom from the current limitations imposed by lack of education and money. We would love to help all our sisters in Nepal but that’s unlikely to happen, so we have started with aiming to help those living in two areas in Nepal. We hope this will provide employment for some and empowerment for all. The kits will be distributed as everything is distributed in Nepal – by walking long distances sometimes over many days.
It is unrealistic to expect women who have no money to be able to pay for the kits so we intend to supply them free of charge. We calculate that every young girl will need about 24 kits over their menstrual life so we have a big job ahead. Days for Girls have been fantastic in providing kits free of charge and allowing us to use their patterns. They do a fabulous job and fully support our endeavour to facilitate Nepali women to work together to improve their lives.
If you want to help us to help them to help each other we have a Giving page on the Virgin Just Giving site. Whatever you decide to do many thanks for taking the time and caring enough to read about our project.
Covid update March 2021
It’s four years since the Tara project took shape and began to deliver on its desire to provide re usable, hygienic menstruation kits for girls and women living in the rural, mountainous areas in Kavre district in Nepal. Since then we have produced and distributed nearly two thousand kits plus those provided by our Days for Girls group in Arnside, Cumbria. By providing the resources in the villages women have been able to produce the initial kits and the pods, which have replacement liners ensuring the women are not left without sanitary protection. Distribution and Women’s Hygiene workshops have been undertaken and delivered by health and community workers. It is so very well received and necessary with kits also being utilised following surgical procedures and post partum.
The COVID disaster has effected Nepal terribly. Things have been challenging here but imagine facing this without a national health and medical infrastructure, no welfare system, a complete paucity of equipment and resources including the most basic items. With the almost total shutdown of shops and transport and travel we have been unable to continue with the project once our supplies ran out. However we remain poised to recommence just as soon as we are able to mobilise people and resources.
Along with every other charity our fundraising opportunities have been significantly reduced and we are so appreciative of those who have remained supportive and interested. Despite the difficulties it is our aim to make progress just as soon as we can.
Regular donations are the cornerstone of our project and we are seeking the help of donors to establish a regular stream of income.
For £10 per month you can ensure that each month two full kits are produced providing two years of sanitary protection for a schoolgirl or woman. It’s such a small amount for a huge amount of kindness and comfort. It affords every woman dignity, cleanliness and protection. It’s an opportunity to do something that matters greatly and which we take so much for granted.
If you feel able to help please………….
Once again thank you for your interest. Stay safe and well.
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Donate
If you would like to donate to Love Nepal, to help any of our worthwhile projects, you can do so at our Virgin Money Giving Page. Just click on the button below.
Alternatively you can pay by bank transfer or by Cheque. For full details please contact us at –
email – namaste@lovenepal.org.uk
Telephone – 01253 788434
