Madi

David Daai on route to Madi

This year, WELNepal is at last fulfilling a long-standing request to bring its projects to a remote area of Nepal. 

We chose Madi.

Madi is indeed remote.  Most of the route to Madi is a semi-paved, semi-graveled, always potholed road that is jarring and teeth-rattling.  Even the Nepalis call the road bad (and they’re remarkably tolerant of tough terrain!).

The last 10 kilometers of this poor excuse for a road takes travelers through the beautiful Chitwan jungle.  I wanted to stop and listen to the sounds of said jungle, but I was told that those sounds were made by wild elephants, rhinos, sloth bears and tigers — none of which take kindly to visitors.

Until recently, the only way to access to Madi was through and into a shallow river.  There was

Madi road

no access during the monsoon when the shallow stream became a rushing torrent. Fortunately, a bridge has been built over the Rapti River that will allow year-round access for vehicles and motorcycles and trucks carrying Madi’s goods and produce to and from the once insular community.

Madi is a little piece of Nepal surrounded on three sides by India.  One has to travel north over that river to stay in Nepal, and how Nepal managed to keep that little chunk of land for itself and away from powerful India is beyond me because Madi is absolutely beautiful.  It’s peaceful and serene, with fertile fields stretching as far as the eye can see.  When I was there, those fields were green with vegetables and mustard plant and wheat.  Madi is primarily farmland. There are few roads and only one lodge. There are few buildings over one story high. There is no electricity, but there are friendly, kind and warm-hearted Nepali people who rarely see people like me in their district!

So while Madi is a perfect place for growing things, it is not such a good place for advancing the lives of women.  That’s why we went there, down that bumpy road, at only minor expense to my back and behind.

Last year, Raj (WELNepal’s coordinator) and I visited Madi to meet the local women’s groups.  We were honored with garlands and red tikkas on our foreheads and festooned with flowers.

Women of the Dalit (untouchable) caste 

This year, every group of women met us with the same ritual.  I like the garlands; I don't mind carrying around the bag of flowers that I am presented with (it's not good manners to leave flower offerings behind); but I'd rather not have red powder smeared all over my forehead.  The powder goes everywhere and as a man with white hair, I eventually wind up with pink highlights.

Our budget limited us to 10 literacy classes in Madi.  A literacy class should be no more than 30 students, but in the village of Nayapiparia, more than 50 women showed up to register for the class. Knowing from past experience that it would be too hard to decide which 25 or 30 women would not be able to learn to read and write this year, I quickly relented and budgeted for two classes.

Two of the classes will be for the women of the Dalit (or untouchable) caste.  A photo of one of those classes is shown above. The women tell me that they will be able to study after working in the fields for land owners. Their salary of 200 rupees a day (a little over $2) is much needed to put food on the table.

Sita Sharma

Sabita Bahal

The coordinator for our classes in Madi will be Sita Sharma (left). Sita is a member of the Tri-Sakti women's group, a group formed to work for the advancement of the lives of women in Madi. But our true "ace in the hole" for this project is Sabita Bahal (right). Sabita is a past president of the Tri-Sakti women's group and a former member of the Nepali parliament.  She is a much respected and honored person in Madi.  Since she was the impetus for bringing WELNepal to Madi we're confident our literacy classes will be successful. 

Clothing Drive

Greetings friends and supporters!

Late last fall, WELNepal decided to reach out to local schools and see if any kids were interested in donating clothes to the little ones in David Daai's village.

All Saints Catholic Elementary School, located in Mississauga, Ontario (just outside of Toronto), more than came through for the kids in Sauraha and  the largely impoverished Malpur. 

David gave two brief presentations to the youngest and oldest students in the school, and much to our delight, hundreds and hundreds of clothing items came in over the next few days. We got more shirts, shoes, pants, jackets, hats, mitts and socks than we ever dreamed possible and the kids in Nepal were overjoyed to receive their new clothes when David landed in his village in January. 

Everyone at WELNepal owes a huge, enormous Thank You! to Trustee Sharon Hobin, Principal Nancy Levey and all of the students, staff and parents that made this incredible clothing drive possible. 

Here are some pictures of the Sauraha and Malpur kiddies enjoying their new threads.

This girl is showing off her new uniform in the impoverished village of Malpur

Sauraha 2014

View of Sauraha

Sauraha, a little village that sits on the outer edge of the Chitwan National Park in the lowlands of southern Nepal, slept through most of the last half of the 20th century.

Historically, there was no way for vehicles to access Sauraha.  The few

A working Sauraha girl

tourists who came to stay in the village — a jumping off point for trips into the national park to see the rhinos and sloth bear and, if they were lucky, the royal Bengal tiger — had to negotiate a rickety walking bridge that traversed the Rapti River.  

That was then.

Sauraha is not sleeping anymore.  In fact, it is wide awake and rarin' to go.

Since a big bridge was built to open access to Sauraha, oxcarts and horse-drawn wagons have been replaced by motorcycles, tourist buses and automobiles.

A wild Chitwan rhino

The first time I came here, 18 years ago, the few lodges that catered to visitors used noisy generators to light rooms and dining halls.  A person needed to be careful not to bump into a rhino in the village after the sun went down. Now electricity is not only used to light over 100 lodges and hotels, but also to electrify fences to keep the rhinos in the park and away from unsuspecting tourists.

And downtown Sauraha, an area that once closed down at sunset, is now alight with restaurants and shops and the sounds of Bob Marley and Guns N’ Roses often fill the air.

Local lodges

Of course, all of this "progress" is a mixed blessing.  The commercialization of my little village has caused only a little loss of innocence.  Please know that Sauraha is not yet ready to challenge the Las Vegas strip or Monte Carlo.  In fact, the next step up would be street lights.

But the growth is good for the local folks.  Everybody is working in the tourist business.  Even the women are earning a few bucks washing hotel sheets and pillow cases — although I'm sure they aren't being paid very much, unfortunately.  Any Trade Unionists out there are more than welcome to come and organize the "downtrodden masses”.

Regarding the value of land around these parts, the talk is that "one could buy a house in Sauraha or a condo in New York." What’s even better? Almost all of the roads are now paved! 

With comfy hotels and lodges, a stunning national park, navigable roads and restaurants, it’s really becoming the place to be. You (yes you, dear reader) should come visit sometime. The people love visitors, and it’s good to boost the local economy (especially one that’s slowly employing more women).

Stay tuned for more reports from my little village.

Namaste,

David Daai

Kamal Subedi and our Remedial Classes

Kamal (far left) with a women's group

Our Remedial Classes - By David Walton 

WELNepal’s chief obligation is to ensure the success of ALL of our projects with the women in Nepal.  A failed project is a waste of money — money donated to us with the expectation that we will spend it wisely. We felt that creating libraries for the women’s groups that completed our literacy classes was not enough to keep as many women literate as possible. To remedy this we came up with the idea of offering those groups the chance to meet once a week and practice literacy skills by taking turns reading from an article or story pertaining to women’s issues, discussing the material and then answering some questions in written form — all under the guidance of a supervisor.  Since there was no project like this for us to base our idea on, we had to chart our own course. We called it our Remedial Class.

We asked our good friend Kamal Subedi, a teacher of English in the Nepali government school system, to create a curriculum for our literacy class graduates. Kamal became so interested in the project that he not only created the course, but also worked with the women who we hired to run each class. That was three years ago.

Before you read Kamal’s report to WELNepal on our Remedial Class project, let me tell you that almost all of the women wish to continue with their weekly meetings and the groups that are completing the last months of our literacy classes are lining up to start their first year of Remedial Class. Kamal will now have to create a new Remedial Class for those groups who will be just completing their third year. 

We are sending you Kamal’s report, without any edits or changes:

KAMAL’S REPORT

I am very happy to be able to write you my final report for this year's all the three remedial training for female teachers. I have observed very Good attendance and active participation in the training. Most of the teachers are eager to continue this remedial course in their villages and keep the old folks interested in their studies!

They say they have seen significant changes in the lives of these people because of these post literacy classes. The mother-in-laws have started to take good care of their pregnant daughter-in-laws, and have become aware about the health hazards from smoking or working in the kitchen that uses timber for fuel, started to take part in decision making process at home, and talk openly about health issues related to sex! Now they are not shy any more while talking to a stranger or to a government official! I think these feedback I get from the teachers I deal with is more than sufficient to prove and justify the success of the course, training  and all the efforts that have been in effect from home and abroad. I am confident that such post literacy programs will definitely bring out positive changes in rural villages of Chitwan.

Big thanks for your work, time and resources directed towards changing the lives of under privileged Nepalese !

We at WELNepal are overjoyed by the success of our Remedial Class project and are so very thankful to have Kamal Subedi on the WELNepal team. Kamal also wanted to say a few words about me and Nepal, so take a look at his first blog:

David: A Change Agent (Catalyst) in Chitwan, Nepal

I’ve known Mr. David Walton for last 15 years before WELNepal came into existence. However, it was in its conception long ago in David’s mind. Mr. Walton used to volunteer in the school where I was (and still am) an English language teacher. It was great pleasure for me as an English language teacher to know and get help from someone whose first language was English so that my pupils would get an early opportunity to get familiarized with a native speaker’s voice, which is an asset for ESL learners.

David was a selfish person. He wanted to see Nepalese life be [as good] as he could imagine and he was in no confusion that it could only be changed with an educated child. Besides, teaching English in school he started to gather funds for making TRUNK libraries in government schools and later in communities as well. I was there with David to choose, buy and send books to the chosen schools. I vividly remember the day back in 2002 when David was honored by the then-minister of Physical Planning and Works for his work and contribution in the area of educational and infrastructural development in Nepalese schools.

At some stage, David realized that an official institution was necessary to continue the work he had been doing for so long and to keep things in order and for its validity. WELNepal was set up, and its main focus was women’s education. David asked me to spend some time and develop a course, a remedial one for the advanced literate people. I shouldered the responsibility with such an interest that it was easy for me to allocate some time out of my busy schedule to materialize the dream of making Nepali women literate.

We have now four remedial series for advanced literacy classes designed to be held once a week. I know there is strong dedication and unfailing support in this mission from many people from home and abroad and it is for a good cause.  I’d love to see this amazing work being continued until every Nepali is literate. There is no doubt everyone’s input is to execute the goal of eradicating illiteracy from Nepal effectively. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the supporters of WELNepal, be it financial, moral or support of any form; it has brought a silent revolution in the corners of Nepali society which will eventually eradicate illiteracy – a root cause of all the evils of the Nepalese society!

Holiday Cheer from WELNepal!

Women using sewing machines

This year has been good for WELNepal. We have now helped over 4,000 women in the lowlands of Nepal learn to read and write in their language for the first time in their lives. We are also launching some great new projects — our vegetable shop and sewing machine projects — in 2014. None of these projects would be possible without the generosity of our loyal donors and supporters. We — and the women we work with — are incredibly grateful.

With the holiday season fast approaching, we've been thinking about how to generate more help for more women in our project area. While searching for ways to raise funds and awareness, we came across a new and inspiring movement — Giving Tuesday.

According to Giving Tuesday’s website, “It is a new Canadian movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Cyber Monday. The ‘Opening day of the giving season,’ it is a day where charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about others.”

When we first heard about this movement, we knew we had to get on board. The event, which takes place on December 3, will allow our supporters to make a donation to WELNepal on Giving Tuesday’s website.

If you’re interested in making a holiday donation, simply visit the website and click on “Give to Any Charity.” Once you click, simply type in WELNepal and wait to be taken to a link to our donation page. You can donate any amount. A little (just $25 teaches one woman to read and write) goes a long way in Nepal.

In other holiday news, WELNepal is also offering supporters a chance to make a donation in honour of a loved one. Anyone who wishes to give to WELNepal on a friend or relative’s behalf will also get the opportunity to send an original WELNepal Christmas card (featuring photos of the women we work with) to the person to whom the donation is dedicated.

So, if you donate $25 in your mother’s name, we will send her a card letting her know what your donation will do for the women we work with.

To dedicate a donation to someone, follow these instructions:

1)    Donate Online by clicking the Canada Helps button on the page.

Simply follow the instructions and indicate the amount you wish to give.

In the message/instructions box, please provide us with:

-The donor’s name

-The recipient’s name

-The recipient’s mailing address

-A personalized dedication (optional)

And last but not least, WELNepal wants to give a BIG THANK YOU to All Saints Catholic Elementary School in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Earlier this fall, David Daai proposed hosting a small clothing drive for the children in our project area - a village where so many children shiver through icy evenings and chilly mornings because they lack warm clothes in good condition.

WELNepal managed to get in touch with Dufferin Peel Catholic School Board trustee Sharon Hobin, who put us in touch with All Saints. The clothing drive was a great success! Now, children in Nepal will have hundreds of items of clothing to keep them warm over the next five to 10 YEARS!

Thank you all for giving the children in Nepal a tremendous Christmas gift that will last many, many years.

Happy Holidays!

Our 12th Annual Benefit Bash

WELNepalis (left to right) Barry, Anton, Ashley, David Daai, Anh, Diana, Betty

WELNepal recently threw its 12^th Annual Benefit Bash, and what a bash it was! It was our first time in Toronto’s famed Tranzac Club and the venue was perfect. There was a plenty of room to meet, mingle and dance (and believe us, dancing was a big part of the evening!).

Auction tables

We welcomed about 100 guests to the party and treated them to delicious food donated and prepared by “our” chefs Mike and Max and popular Toronto restaurants The Roastery and Mt. Everest. We also showcased live entertainment, including performances by Nepali musical group Aryan and Band (fronted by adorable three-year-old drummer Aryan), belly dance troupe Tribe MayaFire and high-energy afro-pop band Njacko Backo and Kalimba Kalimba. DJ Simon provided the perfect soundtrack in between performances.

Aryan and Band

We also received a great response to our silent auction, and some lucky guests walked away with hockey tickets, original art, Nepali and Canadian-made jewellery and more. Guests also liked our colourful grab bags, and for the first time ever, we offered attendees the opportunity to sponsor two young women that we work with in Nepal.

Thanks to some very generous donors, both girls will be starting post-secondary school soon.

Njacko Backo and Kalimba Kalimba

All of us at WELNepal — and all the

women we work with — are incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to come out and celebrate our work with us. The benefit is so much more than a simple fundraiser. It’s about raising awareness of the issues so many Nepali women face and doing so in a fun, memorable and meaningful way. The night is a celebration of our mission, our women’s groups, Nepal and our incredible donors. We hope everyone had as fantastic an evening as we did and we hope to see you all next year!

We’d also like to take this opportunity to offer a very, very special thanks to the people who dedicated so much time to making this benefit the best it could be.

Tribe MayaFire with Aryan

A heartfelt thanks to our Maitre D and host Michael, all of our performers, Anneli, Pat, Anh, Jennifer, Big Guy Shane, Meesh, Hideki, Eli, Suzanne, Betty, Isabelle, Holly, Ethel, Celina, Chip and Nancy (for her famous noodle salad that she kindly provides every year). If we forgot anybody, feel free to call us out in the comments!

We’d also like to offer a huge thank you to our wonderful MC and dedicated donor and fan, Barry Flatman. His speech about his trip to Nepal helped boost the profile of the tiny country we all love so much.

So to everyone who came out to enjoy eating, drinking and partying with us — thank you! Your donations will give so many women the gift of literacy.

Namaste,

WELNepal

Our Benefit is TONIGHT!

Tribe MayaFire

After weeks of preparation, we're beyond excited to be welcoming friends, guests and supporters to our 12th Annual Benefit Bash tonight!

In case you missed our past blogs, here's a brief rundown of the details:

Monica McKenna's 12th Annual Benefit Bash for WELNepal

Friday, October 4 (that's TONIGHT)! at 7:00 pm at The Tranzac Club (292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto)

There will be live entertainment and performances by:

DJ Simon

A Nepali percussion and flute duo

Belly dance troupe Tribe MayaFire

Afro-pop band Njacko Backo and Kalimba Kalimba 

Oh, and did we mention that there will also be a fantastic complimentary buffet dinner and a silent auction featuring hockey tickets, electronics, jewellery, art and more?

We'd absolutely love to see you at all at what promises to be a fun and memorable celebration of your generosity and, most of all, the incredible achievements that the women in Nepal have made with your support.

Visit our website for more information on how to buy tickets for tonight's event (minimum $40 donation suggested).

See you tonight!

Namaste,

WELNepal