One pleasant autumn morning, ORCHID - Nepal members along with a Pasa Club representative Makoto Suga of Japan got to a archaeologically important village of Bungamati in Lalitpur district to meet the foster child of the village. On the way, we met an adolescent girl with a smiling face: she was Hera Laxmi, elder sister of ORCHID's foster child - Hari Bhakta Maharjan. We learnt that the elder sister could not study due to her family's poor economic condition and increased onus of domestic chores on her as her mother had passed away when she was just 4. Since she had already crossed the primary school-going age, it was not feasible to send her to a common school.
We felt very sorry about the pitiable story. It is her genuine desire for education that made us think seriously about doing something to help her.
Indeed, it was the source of inspiration for us to conceive a plan to launch a programme on raising women consciousness that will also include an adult literacy class for women like Hear Laxmi.
After a long deliberation and discussion, and with the positive response from the Pasa Club, the ORCHID finally decided to help numerous women with the Hera Laxmi-like fate. And, as one of the key, long-term programmes of ORCHID - Nepal, the Women Consciousness Programme (WCP) was launched at Bungamati village.
Placing a high priority on women education and consciousness has been identified as one of the best ways to contain social perversions and gear the society towards altruistic development. With this realization, ORCHID has launched a Women Consciousness Programme at the archaeologically important Bungamati Village of Lalitpur on a trial basis from December 26, 1999. Inspired by the overwhelming support and positive response from the villagers and the concerned local administrative units during the one-month trial, the integrated social programme was formalized on January 25, 2000.
The programme has currently been covering 45 women and girls from all the wards of the Bungamati village and its surrounding areas. The programme has been run in financial assistance of Pasa Club, Japan. An agreement to this effect was signed by Trilochan Shrestha (ORCHID-Nepal) and Suga Makoto (Pasa Club).
As it is admittedly
the girls who makes our ‘tomorrow,’ ORCHID envisages to give continuation to
such women-girl children focused programme in future also and launch it as its
major scheme, if it can get compassionate donors’ support as usual.