Dhaka is an exquisite cotton fabric hand woven in numerous colours with an infinite and unlimited number of patterns. The duration of weaving and price is dependent on the complexity of the pattern. The more complex the pattern, higher the price; the simpler the pattern, the lower the cost.

The unique art and craft of dhaka has its roots in an eastern Nepali village ‘Terathum’. Started by ‘Rai’ and ‘Limbu’ women, dhaka is a truly indigenous traditional form of artistic expression reflecting Nepali mastery of craftsmanship.

Dhaka has a history of more than one thousand years and has numerous turbulent experiences. With the introduction and development of power-looms, dhaka suffered a major setback and nearly lost out to cheaper fabrics. But the efforts by villagers to preserve the art brought the dhaka back to life.

Part of the skill training & income generating activities program involves training underprivileged women to weave traditional textile ‘dhaka’ which is famous both locally and internationally. WF also takes responsibility for marketing ‘dhaka’ products on behalf of the weavers within Nepal and abroad.

Malu is studying in grade seven at a local state school. She had suffered repeated abuse from a member of her family and as such has undergone intensive counselling to improve her self-esteem. Malu has had to work very hard at school, as the standard of schooling in Kathmandu is much higher than in the villages. Through hard work she is now amongst the top five in her class.

Malu’s teachers often tell us that she is a wonderful student and recently she was selected to be class captain, which involves a great deal of responsibility and authority and is a recognition of her achievements. She has received a medal for outstanding discipline and all of her teachers appreciate her contributions to activities both in and out of class.

As part of her extracurricular activities, Malu participated in a high jumping and a running competition at school. She won the high jumping competition. She enjoys dancing and in 2003 alone she was involved in five different public stage performances. Malu is very active at home, she is very helpful in the kitchen, helps the other children with their homework and always helps to keep the home clean. She is very dedicated to her studies and completes her homework on time consistently. She is always happy and interested in learning!

Laxmi has been at the shelter since she was 1 year old. Her mother was very sick and could not care for her. Laxmi’s health was very poor, when the Secretary General of the Women’s Foundation brought her to the shelter. She was the first child to live at the shelter and is a very popular member of the family. She is top of her class at school and every night she is asleep by 8 o’clock. She wakes up every morning at 4 o’clock and immediately goes to ask Renu Sharma (Secretary General) to tell her a story.

In April 2002 Laxmi went to hospital for a general check-up. The love and care she receives at the shelter was evident when the doctor asked her what her name was and she responded by saying: “I have three names; ‘Laxmi’, ‘Bunch of Love’ and ‘Peace of Heart’.”

Rajanna attends the local community school with her older sister Sarada. She is currently in the Upper Kindergarten class. Like her sister, she is also top of her class and is often the first student on to the stage at school to answer the morning quiz question. She is enthusiastic about all of her subjects at school, has a lot of friends and enjoys her time in the playground. Her ambition in life is to become a pilot, which is probably a result of the proximity to airport to the shelter, where airplanes are regularly heard flying overhead. Rajanna is a little girl with a big appetite and she will proudly tell how she won the biscuit eating competition at school.

Rajanna is very curious about new things and likes to try new experiences. One day she wanted to see if she could pass an eraser through her nose and out of her mouth. She never told anyone about this and she did it outside on the balcony. She pushed it up and up and then that night it started to hurt her and she could not get it out. She thought that it would melt but it didn’t. Still she did not tell anyone.

Around midnight the pain was so bad that she was crying so much that her friends asked her what happened to her. When she told them what happened they called a nurse who works at Women’s Foundation clinic and she told the nurse what she had done. By this time her nose had become very swollen and it took a long time for the nurse to get the eraser out of her nose.

The next day we asked her why she had done this and she said that she was interested to see if she could pass the eraser from her nose to her mouth. After feeling such pain, we don’t think she will ever try this trick again!

Along with the other girls at the shelter, Rajanna is most happy when she is dancing to traditional Nepali music. She shows such enjoyment and enthusiasm for her dancing and eagerly took part in dancing lessons that the Women’s Foundation organised in 2003. One day Renu Sharma, the Secretary General of the WF, asked Rajanna what made her happy, and she replied ” I am happy because you love me.”

The Constitution of Nepal is based on the principles of equality. In practice however this is not the case and a recent study undertaken by NGO’s with the co-operation of the Ministry of Women “found that 118 clauses/sections/rules in their entirety have discriminatory legal provisions.”

-Source: Discriminatory Laws in Nepal and their Impact on Women (Aug. 2000)

Following is an example of some Nepali laws that discriminate against Women (please select each area to open the corresponding page):

Citizenship

In Nepal citizenship is not automatic at birth. Women do not have the right to transfer their citizenship to their children, and thus if a child is born to a foreign father, he/she cannot be granted Nepali citizenship. Without citizenship, a person cannot gain employment, cannot access medical and cannot own property. A child who is born to rape will face a lengthy and complicated task in gaining citizenship, as their mother is not able to transfer her citizenship to them.

The Women’s Foundation assists a number of women with their citizenship issues. The Women’s Foundation provides legal assistance through their network of lawyers, without which it is very difficult for women to get their cases heard in court.

This is the story of a woman at the shelter who, with WF assistance, was able to take her citizenship case to court ……….

Lila is living at the shelter and WF is currently involved in assisting her with her citizenship case. Lila was abandoned by her husband and does not have citizenship. As she is married, she must have the authorization of her husband if she is to be granted citizenship. After having abandoned her, her husband refuses to acknowledge her and without citizenship she will be unable to find any decent employment. In order to get citizenship, she has to prove that her circumstances should allow for this and without free legal assistance, she would not have been able to do anything about her citizenship problems.

Rape

According to the existing Nepali law on rape, if a married woman is raped, her husband automatically becomes her ex-husband. Thus she loses any marital rights, such as access to property. In most instances the rape victim will suffer rejection from her family and community.

WF has assisted many women and children who are victims of rape and have been rejected by their families and communities.

This is the story of a young woman who was raped and found shelter with WF…….

Sima comes from a small village in Eastern Nepal. When she was 16 years old she was sexually abused by her schoolteacher in the village. Her family and fellow villagers did not support her and she was constantly harassed. She suffered emotionally as a result. In 2000 Sima managed to escape from the village and made her way to the Women’s Foundation office in Jhapa district. She begged for assistance and was brought to Kathmandu where she lives at the shelter. Sima is currently completing Grade 10.

Domestic violence

We do not have law for domestic violence. Beating of women by their husband is very common. Our one research report r in western part of Nepal show that 73% women were victim of domestic violence. Here is one story of women.

Victim of Domestic violence :

Nirmila Sitoula –Nirmila is marriage with 2 children. Her parents arranged her marriage when she was 15 years old. (She shared while crying) – My husband is very valiant. He yell me, beat me with out reason. He do not help me in household work, He force me to work even I am very tired. (She explain one accident while crying and showing her scars) I was bringing water from well. He was sitting in the Khat (wooden bed) he was smoking cigarette but the fire on the cigarette went out. In a big pot I boiled water with husk for cows in front of our house, water was boiling. He asked me to bring fire as quickly as he could snap or he would hurt me and then he snapped but it was not possible to reach there in that time. He came and poured on me that boiling water. I cried very loudly and fainted. When I was a wake, I was in hospital. I know my neighbor bring me to hospital and call the WF members. The WF helps me in hospital and paid my hospital bills. They bring my husband at police custody for one month. Now I learn form WF how to produce good vegetables and sell in the market. So I am running my family independent. Our house is happy and safe house for us now a days. My husband is not any longer with me

Property Inheritance

According to Nepali law women and men, at birth, have equal entitlement to inheriting their parent’s property. However if a woman marries, she gives up her inheritance right to her parents property and is entitled to half her husband’s property. This is clearly impractical in a country where social norms dictate that women are expected to marry.

a few examples of our international volunteers…

BARBARA – (60yrs, from USA) worked with us for 1 month teaching sewing to 5 students. She had worked many years in the sewing industry, and passed on her skills in accurately measuring and cutting fabric, sewing to various patterns – all to a very high standard! She introduced patterns of bags, belts, and potholders to the women. The women are now able to sell these products (made from material hand loomed in the shelter) in the WF shop.

SUSIE – (43 yrs, from Australia) has worked with WF for 2 years now. She was involved in the opening of our retail outlet for our weaving products, while also designing cloth and patterns for the weavers. She also assists with program writing, grant proposals and sources sponsors for our shelter.

CYNTHIA – (48yrs, from USA) has worked with the WF for the past 4 years. She has been involved in a great many projects, right from inception of great ideas (e.g. making the dhaka cloth into clothing to sell in the USA) to completion (taking clothing back to the USA to sell and promote the work of the WF). She has also been instrumental in working with the WF in grant writing, and thinking of the ‘big picture’ with regard to current and future proposals.

SARAH – (30 yrs, from UK) conducted a workshop on dental hygiene for the women and children at the shelter. As a dentist on holiday, sarah put together an interactive, enjoyable day full of information.

MEREDITH & KATE – (both 24 yrs, from USA) worked with the WF for 9 months. Both worked in the office and the organic farm. They were instrumental in the opening of the shop in Kathmandu, which sells the products the WF makes. They also established many programs on the office computer, and made many contacts for the WF internationally. Recently, they worked together in the US to arrange a successful 2-month speaking tour for 2 members of the WF.

SASKIA – (22 yrs, from the Netherlands) worked for 5 months, during which time she developed our web site. She also assisted with editing many of the documents we present to various partner groups and funding agencies.

MIRA – (34 yrs, from UK) worked with us for 3 months, as an English teacher at the office and the shelter. She developed English/Nepali worksheets, and conducted classes for women and children of many different standards. She also arranged for different cultural events to be held at the shelter (such as singing, dancing, cooking from different cultures). Back home in London, she is working on developing a small publication (using all the photos she took whilst here) with the aim of gaining financial sponsors for the women in the shelter.