It takes resilience to live in rural Nepal. Mountainous terrain and a lack of roads limit access to healthcare and education. Caste systems and violence against women and children create socioeconomic disparity. Dependence on agriculture and tourism limit the national economy. About 25 percent of the population lives in poverty. Many children are forced into slavery.
The 2015 earthquake made things even worse. People desperate to earn a living left for Malaysia or the Persian Gulf, where young women are enslaved in domestic servitude or the sex industry, and young men endure forced labor in construction.
Your contribution to Free the Slaves has helped the people of Nepal cope with these challenging circumstances. Our community-based approaches have promoted education about safe migration, enabled the provision of microenterprise seed investments, and promoted advocacy for stronger law enforcement. Partnerships with grassroots groups run by women and slavery survivors have paved the path for the women’s anti-trafficking movement — with counseling, education and support for women in rural areas.
Your donation builds resilience. It isn’t charity, it’s empowerment. It isn’t a handout, it’s a helping hand.
“When we tackle obstacles, we find hidden reserves of courage and resilience we did not know we had.” — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
We hope you will take this opportunity to strengthen individual and community resilience in Nepal during our 2019 Universal Values End-of-Year Campaign.
Editor’s note: This post was researched and written for the FTS Blog by Alina Oh.
