Giving Tuesday: Please Help the People of Nepal

Destruction in Kathmandu after April's Quake. Source: Reuters

This holiday season, think about the incredible women you’ve helped in the past. With new challenges facing Nepal, your support is more crucial than ever. It’s heartbreaking for us to tell a woman she may have to wait a year or more for a literacy class when she so desperately wants to read, write, organize and generate income with her sisters. Let’s aim to make this December a landmark one for the women in our project area.

The roads in Nepal are tough, both literally and metaphorically, and they’re only getting more difficult to traverse.

With so much turmoil in the world, it makes sense that Nepal’s recent (and devastating) earthquake is no longer in the news. While the world has moved on, the Nepalese have not. Even as the country slowly rebuilds and recovers from the catastrophic quake, the challenges to the country’s economy remain. Fewer people visiting the pristine mountains, scenic villages and colourfully chaotic cities mean fewer dollars are making their way into people’s modest coffers.

The country is also facing other challenges, namely ongoing strikes and blockades.

That said, there was some good news this year. For the first time in the country’s history, its parliament elected Bidhya Devi Bhandari as its first female president. The government is starting to acknowledge and respect the dignity, intelligence and contributions of the nation’s hardworking and tragically underrepresented women.

Now, more than ever, we need your help to keep that momentum going — especially in these difficult times. 

As you know, we did not have a benefit this year. Even though we did not get to interact with all of you face to face on a chilly autumn night in Toronto, we thought about you and all the help and support you’ve given us — and the women — in the past.

We would love your support once more.

Please remember that a little goes a long way in Nepal.

$25: Will teach one woman to read and write

$50: Will provide textbooks for 26 women in a literacy class

$100: Will cover a teacher’s salary for three months

$200: Will sponsor a student so she can continue her education for one year. If you are interested in sponsoring a student, please contact WELNepal president David Walton at david@welnepal.org for more details.

$500: Will find an entire eight-month literacy class. Donors who fund a class will have the class named after them.

If you frequent our parties, you know we typically auction off hockey tickets, art and jewellery. This year, we still plan on auctioning off some of those things and have two sets of NHL hockey tickets and original photography created by local, Oakville-based artist Wil Yeung Photography up for grabs.

You can bid on the tickets and pictures here: http://www.ebay.ca/sch/welnepal_7/m.html?_nkw&_armrs=1&_ipg&_from

With the holiday season fast approaching, we’re spending a lot of time thinking about how to make this December (and subsequent months) better for our loved ones in Nepal.

For all of your support, we thank you.

Namaste