HOW ONE NGO’S APPROACH TO EDUCATION IS BREAKING GENERATIONAL CYCLES OF OPPRESSION
WORDS & IMAGES BY DEEDEE MORRIS
EDITED BY TAMARA BLAZQUEZ HAIK
Nepal, a country steeped in natural beauty, is also caught in a cycle of poverty that affects women the most. Too often, once girls have reached the age of puberty, they are either sent into the workforce or arranged to be married, while their education is seen as a hindrance rather than a possible way forward for them.
“The world is failing 130 million girls denied the human right to education – a fundamental, transformative, and empowering right for every human being,” according to a 2023 press release given by the United Nations. Giving girls the opportunity to attend school and learn in a safe environment uplifts them while empowering entire generations, communities, and countries. Access to an education grants girls the ability to make more informed decisions around nutrition and healthcare and to become active members in the labour force. It also promotes gender equality as well as social development.
According to UNESCO, Nepal has been able to attain gender parity with primary school enrollment; however, drop-out rates amongst girls remain high when they reach the upper grades. There are several reasons for this: many girls live in remote areas far from schools, childhood marriage and gender-based violence are still prevalent, and there is systemic oppression that still exists today.
A preschool student doing her school assignment at Chandra Kala Learning Center.
The creation of Hands in Outreach (HIO), a sponsorship organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal, stemmed from the need to change this reality.
Hands in Outreach is a quiet organization, implementing many programs that create change one girl at a time, in a way that has a domino effect against poverty. Ricky Bernstein and Laura Hunt, the Co-Executive Directors, adamantly express that theirs is a slow-moving machine of an organization, impacting hundreds of girls and those that follow them over years.
Sabina Pariyar, an HIO-sponsored girl in grade 12, sitting with Laura Hunt, Co-Executive Director of HIO. Sabina is teaching Laura how to play the ukelele.
The organization headquarters are set near the centre of the busy Thamel district of Kathmandu. However, upon entering the gates of the offices and learning centre, visitors are met with the sounds of birds chirping, neighbours sweeping, roosters crowing, and the sweet voices of children greeting you with “Namaste.” It is an oasis inside the chaos of constant honking horns, dogs barking and the daily hustle and bustle of life in an overcrowded city.
Sunrise view of Kathmandu from Swayambhu (Monkey Temple)
Many of HIO’s Nepal staff began their journey as sponsored children themselves through the Hands in Outreach educational program. Ram, now a senior director, was sponsored when he was 14 years old. He had been bussing tables at a hotel in his village when he walked by a group of HIO staff and sponsors, who were dining there. Ram overheard them talking and afterwards, he approached Ricky and very directly asked for sponsorship. Ram has been with the organization for over 35 years, spending most of his days visiting sponsored girls at their schools and homes, and checking up on their grades and homelife.
Ricky Bernstein, Co-Executive Director from the U.S., and Ram Adhikari, Director of Sponsorship from Nepal, in Bhaktapur’s Durbar Square.
Mamata and Sarah, a duo that masterfully keeps the organization running behind the scenes, also grew up as HIO-sponsored girls. Sarah has recently left Nepal to attend law school in California, while Mamata holds down the fort in Kathmandu.
Understanding the hardships that exist for young girls in Nepal, they approach their work with determination, empathy, and compassion that set a strong example for each child that walks through HIO’s doors.
Reflecting on her job as a social worker, Mamata says, “Every day I look for ways to help even the most challenged HIO girls. I want to help create every opportunity for them to turn their weaknesses into strengths and change their family’s lives like I have been able to do.”
Mamata Rai, Director of Social Work, walking with an HIO-sponsored girl on her way to conduct a home visit.
Hands in Outreach has been providing girls with the tools and resources required to attend school for the past three decades. When it comes to education, HIO looks at it through a family-centered lens; they realized early on that girls thrive when they have the support of the ones they love.
As such, grandmothers and mothers of girls who are sponsored can enroll in the “Be Part of Her Dream” program, through which they have access to free education, a measure of financial security, and information on how to navigate the legal system and their rights as citizens. Through the program, daughters share their knowledge with their mothers and grandmothers too, supporting them through their journey of becoming stronger community leaders and role models. The hope is that they, in turn, will continue to better their children’s lives.
Rabina Moktan during the Mothers Program at Strong Roots Learning Center in Balkhu, Kathmandu, knitting.
Hands In Outreach programs promote financial stability, self-esteem, self-reliance, and self-determination for the sponsored girls and their families, helping to break the generational cycles of oppression that, for many years, have affected so many women and girls in Nepal.
To learn more about the work being done at Hands In Outreach, visit their website.
