Women LEAD Nepal & FIT collaborated in the earthquake relief efforts to help young women empower themselves in the rebuilding efforts. We planned a collaboration to address issues faced by the 1.5 million children impacted as a result of the earthquakes taking into account that monsoon season was fast approaching. We brought public health lessons through games that taught 100s of children and are still being taught by WLEAD throughout the Kathmandu valley. A special thank you to our improvisational coach Nadia & epidemiologist Sweta for creating games!

Why focus on women? Because their empowerment will change the country. According to the United Nations, large numbers of Nepalese women are marginalized in society by caste designations and entrenched harmful traditional practices. UN WOMEN Gender Alert, May 2015, notes that of the over 2 million people living in the 11 most critically hit districts in the Central and Western Region, including the Kathmandu Valley districts, there are 284,144 female headed households, 31,609 women with disabilities, 138,032 women over the age of 65, 609,247 girls aged 14 or under and 630,678 illiterate women and girls [1]. When these women successfully empower themselves, they’ll be instrumental in building a better Nepal.

[1] UN, 2015. Nepal: In Earthquakes’ Wake, UNICEF Speeds Up Response to Prevent Child Trafficking

Accessed online 7/24/2015 at http://bit.ly/1GKl13i

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