Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
When the Lord made me he made a ramblin' (wo)man
"I love you ba-aby, but you gotta understand
When the lord made me
He made a ramblin' (wo)man." - Hank Williams Sr
When the lord made me
He made a ramblin' (wo)man." - Hank Williams Sr
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Hey Yoga Girl
"When you do your chattaranga do your toes curl?" -Fog and Smog
This makes me laugh. Hard.
This makes me laugh. Hard.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Soul Food
"Derry down green; Colour my dream." -Van Morrison
I could spend the rest of my life in the middle of a Van Morrison song.
I could spend the rest of my life in the middle of a Van Morrison song.
Book Porn for Book Lovers
"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." -Austin Phelps
Let's face it, a kindle will never smell as good as a well-loved book.
I am a confessed book hoarder. I hoard books shamelessly.
And as a hoarder of books, I love this website:
http://bookshelfporn.com/
Let's face it, a kindle will never smell as good as a well-loved book.
I am a confessed book hoarder. I hoard books shamelessly.
And as a hoarder of books, I love this website:
http://bookshelfporn.com/
Imagine a Woman
"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." - Oscar Wilde
This poem is my mantra. It brings me home, back to myself. Enjoy.
Imagine a Woman
Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.
Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.
Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past’s influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.
Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.
Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.
Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.
Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.
Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.
Imagine yourself as this woman
Patricia Lynn Riely, 1995
This poem is my mantra. It brings me home, back to myself. Enjoy.
Imagine a Woman
Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.
Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.
Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past’s influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.
Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.
Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.
Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.
Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.
Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.
Imagine yourself as this woman
Patricia Lynn Riely, 1995
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Women's Foundation of Nepal
"We begin to die the day we start being silent about the things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr
I’m currently interning with an incredible organisation, The Women’s Foundation of Nepal. While my focus is on business development and microfinance, it has come to my attention that one of their key projects is at risk of being terminated due to external funding coming to an end this month - time to put on my fundraising hat.
The Women’s Foundation requires approximately $20,000 US to continue operating their two child day care centers located in Kathmandu and Jhapa. I intend on using this blog as a means to disseminate information about women’s issues in Nepal, the Women’s Foundation as well as a the plight of the child day care centers. With all my heart, I’m calling out to you to help support this organisation and their extraordinary work.
As The Women’s Foundation's website is not currently equipped to accept donations (and I am not computer savvy enough to fix it myself), I have created a 'My Cause' account (linked below) that people can donate through.If you would rather donate directly into the Foundation's account through an international bank transfer, please contact me and I will provide you with the details.
http://www.mycause.com.au/mycause/raise_money/fundraise.php?id=49361
If larger donors would interested I am able to forward you a break-down of the budget.
www.womenepal.org
Women’s Development in Nepal
The women of Nepal face a wide range of discriminatory practices that cloud their entire existence.
Most marriages in Nepal are still arranged, meaning that the woman has little or no control about her life partner. Within her in-laws family she typically has no status. She is given the menial jobs, and works long hours with little gratification. Once she has children, her work load isn’t lessened. Instead, the traditional role of a wife is to both take care of the kids and continue to contribute to the family income through back breaking labor in the fields.
If her husband dies the Nepali woman faces the horrors of widowhood, which in many villages means being completely ostracized. Widows are often kicked out of their in-laws homes. If they are allowed to remain, they are given ever-decreasing portions of food and resources. In past times, widows would often be burned to death on their husband’s funeral pyre. Since husband and wife are supposed to become 'one', the logic was that a widow is only half a person, and so would obviously want to kill herself to remain with her other half. While widow-burning is no longer common, the underlying assumption still exists. To be a widow in Nepal is to live a half-life.
Often widows in Nepal are termed "bokshi", or witches, and are subject to extreme abuse and discrimination. Many of the victims have led very difficult lives, and once accused of being a 'bokshi', are beaten, tortured, or forced to commit degrading acts such as eating human waste, or the meat of other humans.
Further discrimination of women is seen in the traditional treatment of women who are on their period. During menstruation they are considered 'unclean', and so are cut off from participation in daily life. In extreme cases they are sent out to live in a cow shed for a week. They aren’t supposed to touch food or water, and instead have to wait for someone to bring it to them. They are not permitted to take tikka (a blessing which takes the form of red powder placed on the forehead) or enter a temple. They’re not even supposed to touch any other people. Thankfully these conditions have started to change, but particularly in rural Nepal there are still many areas where traditional practices are still common.
In Nepal the social acceptance of violence against women is still wide spread. A recent study by SAATHI shows that up to 81% of women in rural Nepal are victims of domestic abuse.
According to the latest statistics, a woman is raped every 54 minutes somewhere in Nepal. Unfortunately, most of these rape cases never come to light because the women and their families do not allow them to. No police case is filed, no trial takes place and no one is brought to justice. Shock, shame and fear of both social stigma and of being raped again as a reprisal dissuade the majority of rape victims from reporting the crime. Even if a girl and her family are bold enough to file a complaint, they must have a doctor’s report to register the case as a rape case. Most doctor’s will refuse to include rape in their reports because it would mean they would have to go to court and testify – on their own time. If they do manage to register the case, Nepalese rape laws are so inadequate that prosecution is difficult. In order for a rapist to be convicted, the victim must prove in an open court that the rapist sexually penetrated her. Not only is this very difficult to prove, but it is also embarrassing for the victim.
In addition to challenges in trial, victims face a prevailing chauvinistic view that rape is not all that big an issue since a girl is going to have sex anyway. Rape only means that she has it earlier than she otherwise would have or that she isn't too happy about the conditions in which it occurred.
The history of women’s rights in Nepal is not a cheerful one, but the country currently stands at a crossroads which could lead to a far more equal society.
The Women’s Foundation of Nepal
The Women's Foundation of Nepal (WFN) is a non-profit organization who's mission is to help regardless of caste, religion or race. WFN strives to alleviate problems through increasing public awareness of opportunities for economic and social development and by fostering social responsibility and self-reliance in developing villages.
Child Care Centers
The Women’s Foundation of Nepal runs 2 Child Care Centers (in Kathmandu and Jhapa). The centers allow parents with low incomes to leave their children in a safe, healthy and nurturing environment while they (parents) go to work, while the children get the chance to learn how to read and write, interact with their peers, and learn important social skills.
Rationale
For many children in Nepal, a safe and loving environment in which to grow up is not a reality. A combination of poverty and conflict has wreaked havoc in many homes, both in urban settings and in the rural areas of the country. The net result has been a rapid and large movement of migrants from the hill regions and villages into Kathmandu, all in search of employment. Many single mothers who needed to work either had to take their children to work with them (tied on their backs or staying nearby) or leave them unattended at home. Either option is very unsafe. There are many cases of children being killed in accidents while their parents had to leave them to go to work. One example which illustrates this is the case of Narmaya, who lost her 2 ½ year old child in New Road, Kathmandu in 2005. She was roasting corn in front of Nepal Bank Limited and the child was playing nearby. She always brought the child with her because she couldn't afford to cover their daily expenses, much less child care. Although she always tried to be careful, one day she noticed that the child was not near her as usual. She then realized that he had fallen into a small hole filled with water. Although it wasn't deep, he drowned because he fell face-first and didn't know how to turn his head. This case illustrates the basic plight of many mothers in Kathmandu.
In addition, orphaned and abandoned children who live on the streets are easy targets for criminals or the sex trade, or they simply become absorbed in Nepal's large and growing pool of child labour. Children work in factories, hotels, and as domestic servants. Long working hours and inadequate care and nutrition result in a myriad of health problems at an early age, as well as illiteracy and increased vulnerability.
It was with this in mind that The Women’s Foundation of Nepal started 2 Child Care Centers— the first was established in Kathmandu in 2008 and the second was established in Jhapa in 2009. At present, there are 50 children in the Kathmandu Center and 50 children in the Jhapa Center. These Child Care Centers provide spaces for the children of women from The Women’s Foundation shelter homes or past residents of the shelter homes, employees of The Women’s Foundation Weaving Center, the children of low income mothers from the general public (whether single or married), and orphaned or abandoned children. Many of the women were victims of domestic violence who are attempting to re-build their lives, whether from the shelter homes or otherwise. These women are often illiterate and work long hours in less-than-ideal circumstances, such as roadside vendors and in construction labour (carrying bricks and sand). A safe space for their young children is crucial. The Child Care Centers welcomes such children from the ages of 2 months to 6 years.
Objectives and Activities
Many children in Nepal lack basic care, education and a safe space in which to learn. The Child Care Centers in Kathmandu and Jhapa fulfill 2 functions: first, as a day care for the children of women with very low incomes and second, as educational homes in which the children can learn and thrive. The objectives of the Child Care Centers can be summarized as follows:
• Protect children from violent and difficult situations;
• Provide quality care in a safe environment;
• Provide basic foundational education, nutritious food and healthcare (including childhood vaccines) on time, and give children the chance to engage in important childhood activities such as drawing, story-telling and playing musical instruments.
The Child Care Centers are managed by professional and experienced staff, including 1 Principal, 1 Mother-caregiver, 2 Sister-caregivers, 3 teachers and 1 Co-ordinator. To maximize efficiency and ensure that the relevant needs of the children from different age groups are being met, the children are divided into 3 ‘Houses’. The ‘Caring House’ includes children from the age of 2 months to 2 years, and will be staffed by 1 Mother, plus 1 sister for every 5 children. The ‘Blue House’ includes all the 3-year old and 4-year old children. Their classes will be run by 1 teacher for every 10 children. Finally, the ‘Green House’ includes all the 5-year old and 6-year old children, where 1 teacher will teach every 15 children. After the age of 6, the children will go to nearby public schools.
All of the children are provided with the necessary materials for school, including books, pencils, and school uniforms. They eat 3 nutritious meals per day at school, receive medical check-ups and essential childhood vaccines, and begin their education.
Future Direction
The Women’s Foundation of Nepal is requesting support for the next five years. The Child Care Centers serve a crucial function for which there is a very high demand. For women earning 40 to 50 NR per day as labourers or vegetable vendors, affordable child care is often only a dream. At the moment, there are many requests and a waiting list for mothers who would like to get a space for their children in the Child Care Centers. The Women’s Foundation would like to be able to continue running both Centers and increase the admission so that more women and children can take advantage of these services. This year the external financial support and funding for the centers has ended. WFN urgently requires donations from you, the public, in order to ensure these child care centers continue to operate.
The total annual cost of running the Child Care Centers in Kathmandu and Jhapa is 4,164,720. NR or $59, 532. USD. The total cost for 5 years will be 20,823,600. NR or $297,660. USD. So I know I have set a huge fundraising goal of $5,000…. but let’s reach for the stars, right?
No donation is too large or too small, every cent makes a difference.
I’m currently interning with an incredible organisation, The Women’s Foundation of Nepal. While my focus is on business development and microfinance, it has come to my attention that one of their key projects is at risk of being terminated due to external funding coming to an end this month - time to put on my fundraising hat.
The Women’s Foundation requires approximately $20,000 US to continue operating their two child day care centers located in Kathmandu and Jhapa. I intend on using this blog as a means to disseminate information about women’s issues in Nepal, the Women’s Foundation as well as a the plight of the child day care centers. With all my heart, I’m calling out to you to help support this organisation and their extraordinary work.
As The Women’s Foundation's website is not currently equipped to accept donations (and I am not computer savvy enough to fix it myself), I have created a 'My Cause' account (linked below) that people can donate through.If you would rather donate directly into the Foundation's account through an international bank transfer, please contact me and I will provide you with the details.
http://www.mycause.com.au/mycause/raise_money/fundraise.php?id=49361
If larger donors would interested I am able to forward you a break-down of the budget.
www.womenepal.org
Women’s Development in Nepal
The women of Nepal face a wide range of discriminatory practices that cloud their entire existence.
Most marriages in Nepal are still arranged, meaning that the woman has little or no control about her life partner. Within her in-laws family she typically has no status. She is given the menial jobs, and works long hours with little gratification. Once she has children, her work load isn’t lessened. Instead, the traditional role of a wife is to both take care of the kids and continue to contribute to the family income through back breaking labor in the fields.
If her husband dies the Nepali woman faces the horrors of widowhood, which in many villages means being completely ostracized. Widows are often kicked out of their in-laws homes. If they are allowed to remain, they are given ever-decreasing portions of food and resources. In past times, widows would often be burned to death on their husband’s funeral pyre. Since husband and wife are supposed to become 'one', the logic was that a widow is only half a person, and so would obviously want to kill herself to remain with her other half. While widow-burning is no longer common, the underlying assumption still exists. To be a widow in Nepal is to live a half-life.
Often widows in Nepal are termed "bokshi", or witches, and are subject to extreme abuse and discrimination. Many of the victims have led very difficult lives, and once accused of being a 'bokshi', are beaten, tortured, or forced to commit degrading acts such as eating human waste, or the meat of other humans.
Further discrimination of women is seen in the traditional treatment of women who are on their period. During menstruation they are considered 'unclean', and so are cut off from participation in daily life. In extreme cases they are sent out to live in a cow shed for a week. They aren’t supposed to touch food or water, and instead have to wait for someone to bring it to them. They are not permitted to take tikka (a blessing which takes the form of red powder placed on the forehead) or enter a temple. They’re not even supposed to touch any other people. Thankfully these conditions have started to change, but particularly in rural Nepal there are still many areas where traditional practices are still common.
In Nepal the social acceptance of violence against women is still wide spread. A recent study by SAATHI shows that up to 81% of women in rural Nepal are victims of domestic abuse.
According to the latest statistics, a woman is raped every 54 minutes somewhere in Nepal. Unfortunately, most of these rape cases never come to light because the women and their families do not allow them to. No police case is filed, no trial takes place and no one is brought to justice. Shock, shame and fear of both social stigma and of being raped again as a reprisal dissuade the majority of rape victims from reporting the crime. Even if a girl and her family are bold enough to file a complaint, they must have a doctor’s report to register the case as a rape case. Most doctor’s will refuse to include rape in their reports because it would mean they would have to go to court and testify – on their own time. If they do manage to register the case, Nepalese rape laws are so inadequate that prosecution is difficult. In order for a rapist to be convicted, the victim must prove in an open court that the rapist sexually penetrated her. Not only is this very difficult to prove, but it is also embarrassing for the victim.
In addition to challenges in trial, victims face a prevailing chauvinistic view that rape is not all that big an issue since a girl is going to have sex anyway. Rape only means that she has it earlier than she otherwise would have or that she isn't too happy about the conditions in which it occurred.
The history of women’s rights in Nepal is not a cheerful one, but the country currently stands at a crossroads which could lead to a far more equal society.
The Women’s Foundation of Nepal
The Women's Foundation of Nepal (WFN) is a non-profit organization who's mission is to help regardless of caste, religion or race. WFN strives to alleviate problems through increasing public awareness of opportunities for economic and social development and by fostering social responsibility and self-reliance in developing villages.
Child Care Centers
The Women’s Foundation of Nepal runs 2 Child Care Centers (in Kathmandu and Jhapa). The centers allow parents with low incomes to leave their children in a safe, healthy and nurturing environment while they (parents) go to work, while the children get the chance to learn how to read and write, interact with their peers, and learn important social skills.
Rationale
For many children in Nepal, a safe and loving environment in which to grow up is not a reality. A combination of poverty and conflict has wreaked havoc in many homes, both in urban settings and in the rural areas of the country. The net result has been a rapid and large movement of migrants from the hill regions and villages into Kathmandu, all in search of employment. Many single mothers who needed to work either had to take their children to work with them (tied on their backs or staying nearby) or leave them unattended at home. Either option is very unsafe. There are many cases of children being killed in accidents while their parents had to leave them to go to work. One example which illustrates this is the case of Narmaya, who lost her 2 ½ year old child in New Road, Kathmandu in 2005. She was roasting corn in front of Nepal Bank Limited and the child was playing nearby. She always brought the child with her because she couldn't afford to cover their daily expenses, much less child care. Although she always tried to be careful, one day she noticed that the child was not near her as usual. She then realized that he had fallen into a small hole filled with water. Although it wasn't deep, he drowned because he fell face-first and didn't know how to turn his head. This case illustrates the basic plight of many mothers in Kathmandu.
In addition, orphaned and abandoned children who live on the streets are easy targets for criminals or the sex trade, or they simply become absorbed in Nepal's large and growing pool of child labour. Children work in factories, hotels, and as domestic servants. Long working hours and inadequate care and nutrition result in a myriad of health problems at an early age, as well as illiteracy and increased vulnerability.
It was with this in mind that The Women’s Foundation of Nepal started 2 Child Care Centers— the first was established in Kathmandu in 2008 and the second was established in Jhapa in 2009. At present, there are 50 children in the Kathmandu Center and 50 children in the Jhapa Center. These Child Care Centers provide spaces for the children of women from The Women’s Foundation shelter homes or past residents of the shelter homes, employees of The Women’s Foundation Weaving Center, the children of low income mothers from the general public (whether single or married), and orphaned or abandoned children. Many of the women were victims of domestic violence who are attempting to re-build their lives, whether from the shelter homes or otherwise. These women are often illiterate and work long hours in less-than-ideal circumstances, such as roadside vendors and in construction labour (carrying bricks and sand). A safe space for their young children is crucial. The Child Care Centers welcomes such children from the ages of 2 months to 6 years.
Objectives and Activities
Many children in Nepal lack basic care, education and a safe space in which to learn. The Child Care Centers in Kathmandu and Jhapa fulfill 2 functions: first, as a day care for the children of women with very low incomes and second, as educational homes in which the children can learn and thrive. The objectives of the Child Care Centers can be summarized as follows:
• Protect children from violent and difficult situations;
• Provide quality care in a safe environment;
• Provide basic foundational education, nutritious food and healthcare (including childhood vaccines) on time, and give children the chance to engage in important childhood activities such as drawing, story-telling and playing musical instruments.
The Child Care Centers are managed by professional and experienced staff, including 1 Principal, 1 Mother-caregiver, 2 Sister-caregivers, 3 teachers and 1 Co-ordinator. To maximize efficiency and ensure that the relevant needs of the children from different age groups are being met, the children are divided into 3 ‘Houses’. The ‘Caring House’ includes children from the age of 2 months to 2 years, and will be staffed by 1 Mother, plus 1 sister for every 5 children. The ‘Blue House’ includes all the 3-year old and 4-year old children. Their classes will be run by 1 teacher for every 10 children. Finally, the ‘Green House’ includes all the 5-year old and 6-year old children, where 1 teacher will teach every 15 children. After the age of 6, the children will go to nearby public schools.
All of the children are provided with the necessary materials for school, including books, pencils, and school uniforms. They eat 3 nutritious meals per day at school, receive medical check-ups and essential childhood vaccines, and begin their education.
Future Direction
The Women’s Foundation of Nepal is requesting support for the next five years. The Child Care Centers serve a crucial function for which there is a very high demand. For women earning 40 to 50 NR per day as labourers or vegetable vendors, affordable child care is often only a dream. At the moment, there are many requests and a waiting list for mothers who would like to get a space for their children in the Child Care Centers. The Women’s Foundation would like to be able to continue running both Centers and increase the admission so that more women and children can take advantage of these services. This year the external financial support and funding for the centers has ended. WFN urgently requires donations from you, the public, in order to ensure these child care centers continue to operate.
The total annual cost of running the Child Care Centers in Kathmandu and Jhapa is 4,164,720. NR or $59, 532. USD. The total cost for 5 years will be 20,823,600. NR or $297,660. USD. So I know I have set a huge fundraising goal of $5,000…. but let’s reach for the stars, right?
No donation is too large or too small, every cent makes a difference.
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