In an earlier article, I shared some of the community driven development initiatives from Nepal that were highlights during the Global Peace Convention that was held in Seoul, Korea in November (2011).

Among the initiatives shared by Saroj Khanal (Service For Peace Executive Director in Nepal), I was very much inspired by the story about women that finally had the opportunity to join a literacy class that taught them to read and write Nepali. The women in this case are not teen girls or women in their 20’s, most of these are women in the late thirties and forties. For these women going to school was not an option while growing up. Traditionally, the girls did not have the privilege of going to school. It was more expected for them to stay home and help with house-hold chores, eventually would get married, have children and take care of their families.

What this means is that a majority of the women in Nepal never had the opportunity to be educated. In the case of Nepal, women take on double shifts — taking on household chores and working in the fields — but have minimal participation in decision-making. Besides that, many of them experience difficulty getting along their normal days when they have to join communal places and expected to interact with others.

One woman shared an experience of having been on a bus and taking a seat only to have someone ask her to vacate. What she didn’t know was that each of the seats was usually marked for the riders. Such an experience left her feeling ashamed and with lots of guilt about her life. And for many of these women, the dream and the desire to be able to read and write was something that remained with them through their years.

So when Service For Peace began the literacy class, it did not matter what age they were; they were just glad to finally have an opportunity to read and write.

The impact of the literacy class for these women is best depicted in the effort they initiated following their participation in the literacy class — the effort to reach out to their fellow women sharing with them the experience of learning and finding ways to get them to join the class. Below I highlight some of those efforts:

Volunteering to bring books to villages

In one of the slides shared by Saroj , we see some pictures of women on bicycles with a container on the back written ‘Service For Peace’ on one side and on another ‘Mobile Library’.

Listening to Saroj, we learn that these women volunteer to ride the mobile libraries into the community once a week. Having established that many of the women were having difficulty taking the trip to go read or borrow books from the stationed libraries (Service For Peace has also initiated mini libraries within the community), some of the women volunteered to be bringing books to the villages. Service For Peace through partners was able to supply six bicycles with boxes that carry about 50 books, out of which 60 books are borrowed per week.

A testimonial shared by two of the women who took the class stated:

“I now know the value of education. I am glad to ride the bicycle to bring books to the villages. The praise and encouragement that I get from doing this is so motivating. And through the class, I have benefited from a goat scholarship that has become my income source and also provides milk (protein) for my family.”  —Tara Magar, 35 years

“I joined the literacy school and studied for 3 months. I got free books through the mobile library. I am now able to read and write in Nepali. I feel I can see the world now. I have experienced the difference between my illiterate life and now. Now I know how to treat my children. I know the power of hygiene. I now have self respect. I don’t have to be humiliated in front of people. I can now count and read for myself”.  — Sita Kyapchaki, 37 years old

A Letter and One Rupee

In addition to the mobile libraries initiative, the women also began an effort that was another testament of the empowerment of the literacy class. On one part, was a genuine motivation to reach out to their fellow women to encourage them to join the class; they did this by writing a letter to their women neighbors and others that they knew in the community. The writing of the letter was also a way for them to practice what they had learnt (reading and writing in Nepali). In the letter the women would share their experience having been part of the class and also on the opportunities that were opening up based on their ability to read and write. For those that were doing well in class, they could now be given an opportunity to work with Service For Peace for some hours and they could make some little money. As part of this noble effort to share with their fellow women and impart their experiences, the women also began the ‘one rupee’ initiative, where they now give one rupee and to rally others within the community to give one rupee in order for more women to join the class.

In some of the cases when the women would write the letters to their fellow women, they would include one rupee as a way to extend the invitation for the women to consider joining the class.

The dream of wearing a uniform

And just when I had thought I had heard the last of these very self-driven efforts, we learned that the women also came together one day and decided to make uniforms.  Saroj was himself one day surprised when he visited the class and found the women in uniform. When he asked who requested them to make uniforms, the women shared of a desire they always had to wear school if they had been part of a school. Now that they were in a school, they joined effort to make their uniforms.

Not only was all this very inspiring for me but was a true testament of true empowerment and true ownership! And no doubt it was clear that for many of the women, the literacy class had given them a new lease of life and an affirmation that anything is achievable.

Over the past three years, about 571 women have been part of the literacy class that was initiated by Service For Peace in Nepal.

By Becky Gitonga