First, to give you some background. In order to get a Fulbright grant, you really have to have an "affiliation". Basically someone who feels like you're doing something worthy of the grant and 'invites' you into the country. I found out about TRIFC when I was searching about deafness in Nepal and discovered a former Fulbrighter's blog. I got in touch with Franz, and he referred me to Rob Rose, the founder of TRIFC. Rob was a great help in learning about deaf education in Nepal and agreed that I could be affiliated with TRIFC. The Rose International Fund for Children is an NGO that works to change the perception of "disabled" in Nepal to "differently abled", and provide opportunities to people with all kinds of challenges, including deafness. For more information about their work, you can go to TRIFC's website: http://trifc.org/ or follow Rob's blog: http://trifc.blogspot.com/
Given the help Rob gave me during the Fulbright application process, and the work that TRIFC has been doing, I was thrilled to find out that I would be able to meet him in person, and work with one of TRIFC's projects. Rose Stevens, a volunteer with TRIFC, developed the microfinance project we worked on, and she and Sandi (another volunteer) conducted the embroidery training. The project aims were to give the ladies an opportunity for income, a place where they could meet and socialize with other deaf women, and also a place where they could learn a skill (embroidering cards) and learn Nepali sign, good business practices, good nutrition, etc.
Sixteen women were chosen for the pilot project, and met us at the Kavre School for the Deaf in Banepa. The women were all from the Kavre District, some living in town, others from villages up to 2 hours away. The training consisted of Rose and Balram (a former Teacher of the Deaf at the Naxal School for the Deaf in KTM, who now works with TRIFC) explaining the goals to the ladies and presenting the model of how the project was to work. The women will have an initial training period where they will work together for about 2 weeks, and then will meet two times a month to turn in the completed cards, catch up with each other, and perhaps have a small training on relevant topics (Nepali Sign, nutrition, business practices, finance, etc.). The cards will be sold predominantly in boutiques and craft fairs in America, but some may also be sold in shops in Nepal. The women will get a fair percentage of each card's selling price, and a small percentage will go into the group fund to provide for materials and costs.
So far, the project looks to be very successful. The ladies seem to be very excited about learning new skills, earning money, and having the social outlet, and the cards that were made during the training were very impressive (see below)! Rob, Balram and I interviewed each of the women to get their stories for a small bio on the back of each card they make. We heard from women who had the opportunity for education at deaf schools (even through Class 12!), women who had only a 3rd or 4th grade education in hearing schools, and even those who had no opportunity for education at all. Some of the women had lost their hearing as a child due to illness, while others were born deaf. Two of the women had harrowing stories to tell about being beaten by members of the Maoist Army because they were of the Dalit (formerly, Untouchable) caste. Luckily, one lady was rescued when her fellow villagers protected her, but the other lady's husband was killed in the beating that left her with a severely broken leg that has never healed properly, and 3 children to raise on her own.
Though the stories were difficult to hear, they demonstrated the importance of such a project. Ideally, with hard work, these women will be able to make a substantial income that will allow them to better provide for their family, give their children the education opportunities they were denied, and the time with the other women will give them something to look forward to. Two women from the group were chose as "group leaders" in order to increase ownership of the group while still providing leadership, and I believe that the group will flourish under their guidance. I look forward to seeing where this project goes!
Rob speaking to the ladies during the training about the the goals of the project.
Rose (pink shirt), and Sandy (black jacket), leading the initial embroidery training. Krishna mam, the principal of the Kavre School for the Deaf, interpreted.
The ladies looking at the sample cards and deciding if this was something they wanted to do. We started with 16 ladies initially, but it looks like the project will continue with around 12. So far, many of the participants have picked up the skills at an astonishing rate, especially given that most are not able to read the English instructions and are learning by looking at the sample cards instead.
One of the more difficult patterns. I believe this card was only the 2nd or 3rd made by one of the women. It boggles my mind that it looks so awesome already!
This lady came in as I was taking pictures of some of the completed cards, and was SO excited to show me hers. She was born hearing, but lost quite a bit of her hearing when she became ill around age 7. She prefers to speak and lipread, but took a sign language class offered by the school last year, and is hoping that her signing skills will improve while she's working with the group.
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