World Youth Skills Day 2025

It’s World Youth Skills Day 2025! Each July 15th, NYF commemorates World Youth Skills Day to highlight the need for practical skills training among young adults in Nepal for gainful employment and entrepreneurship.

The need is urgent and significant—as across Nepal, a quiet crisis has been unfolding for years.

In 2014, the number of young Nepalis seeking work outside of the country surpassed 500,000. That’s over 1.6% of Nepal’s entire population. That annual number has continued to rise steadily in the years since, crossing 750,000 this past year (2.5%).

Families Separated, Futures Risked

This rising outward migration is due to limited job access within Nepal’s borders, leaving millions of young Nepali people feeling like they had no choice but to search for work abroad. Today, an estimated 3.5 million Nepalis (14% of Nepal’s population) are working abroad in unsafe and exploitative conditions in countries like Malaysia, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. That means over half of Nepali households have at least one family member working overseas.

Unfortunately, the process of securing these jobs can be quite expensive. Even more, when young people arrive to begin working, the positions are often very different than expected. Most of these workers end up taking on grueling labor jobs. Employers frequently take advantage of these workers’ low bargaining power. Sadly, stories of wage theft, trafficking, inhumane working conditions, and physical abuse are common.

The Solution: NYF’s Vocational Education & Career Counseling

Ironically, lucrative job opportunities do exist in Nepal. There’s just a shortage of accessible skills training opportunities, especially in remote areas. This is where NYF’s Vocational Education and Career Counseling program comes in—not as a response, but as a solution.

Our VECC program links motivated young adults with the holistic resources and training they need to start lucrative careers in Nepal’s growing economy. Our Vocational School provides high-quality, hands-on training in fields like electrical work, plumbing, welding, tailoring, carpentry, and greenhouse farming.

This past year alone, over 1,000 young adults received services from NYF’s VECC program!

35th Anniversary Year Celebration: Alumni Spotlight

As of this July, NYF is officially in its 35^th Anniversary Year. In celebration of this milestone, we’ll be spending these next 12 months highlighting our alumni and the incredible work they’ve done since receiving our support. (To view all the stories we’ve published so far, please visit: https://nyf.news/35years.)

This World Youth Skills Day, we’re spotlighting Shital Chaudary, who is an alumna of the Olgapuri Vocational School Electrical Program. She received NYF support between April and June 2022, when she was the only woman in a group of 23 trainees in a village-based Electrician Training Course. She thrived in the course and earned her electrician’s certification.

Read Shital Chaudhary’s full story below

World Youth Skills Day Spotlight: Shital Chaudhary

Shital Chaudhary grew up in a very traditional home in southwestern Nepal. Unfortunately, this meant that, as a girl, her aspirations and well-being were given very low priority. Money was tight, and any extra resources were saved for her brothers.

Even without support at home, Shital was a bright and motivated student. She scored well on the challenging Secondary Education Exam (SEE, or “Iron Gate”) at the end of the 10th grade. Only about 50% of students pass this rigorous exam, and these rates are even lower in rural areas.

But a few short months into the 11th grade, Shital’s dreams were crushed when her family forced her to drop out of school and marry a local man. She became completely financially dependent on her husband, who refused to pay for even the basic necessities for Shital or their baby son.

Everything changed when Shital learned that NYF was bringing a village-based Electrical Training Course to her area in 2022. She quickly signed up, completely unfazed at being the only woman in a group of 23 trainees. The program provided her with technical skills, as well as the confidence and dignity she had long been denied.

Shital thrived in the course, which became the foundation for a remarkable personal and professional transformation. She enjoys a place of high respect within her family, and her son is enrolled in a good school. And her personal mission has expanded.

After earning her electrician’s certification, Shital was immediately hired at a construction company in Kathmandu. She worked there for 10 months. When NYF expanded the Olgapuri Vocational School Electrical program, we asked if she’d been willing to join our staff as an instructor.

Today, Shital is employed at NYF as an electrical trainer. She helps other young adults access the same life-changing opportunities she once received. Most importantly, Shital is making an incredible impact by empowering youth to stay in Nepal and build a future at home.

She shares a powerful message to the NYF Community that is fitting for World Youth Skills Day 2025: “Not everyone can pursue higher education, but vocational training can change lives in just a few months. If the next generation combines education with practical skills, there are endless opportunities right here in Nepal and youths do not have to migrate abroad and leave their families and communities to earn a living. Be true, disciplined, and work selflessly. Success will follow you. We don’t need to go abroad to find happiness—we can build our dreams right here at home.”

Transformative Career Opportunities in Dhangadhi through Vocational Training 

Transformative career opportunities, like those offered through Olgapuri Vocational School (OVS), allow Nepali young people to begin building economic independence and even generational wealth. But that’s just the beginning.

Communities all over Nepal are eager to upgrade their standard of living, whether by improving clean water access, making electrical connection more reliable, or scaling up local vegetable production. These changes transform villages, impacting public health, access to outside resources, educational opportunities, and much more. But in many rural areas of the country, young people struggle to access the skills training required to enter these industries.

Development in Nepal’s “far western” province, Sudurpashchim Province, has fallen behind most of the country. But NYF is working with local leaders to turn the tide.

Skill Fair: Connecting Youth to Employers

In early March 2025, Olgapuri Vocational School (OVS) participated in the Skill and Employment Fair in western Nepal. This event, organized by Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City, provided hands-on training opportunities for young adults eager to enter the workforce.

• Air Conditioning & Refrigeration
• Barbering
• Electrical
• Fast Food Preparation
• Furniture Making
• Plumbing
• Welding

These fields offer strong job prospects, helping participants gain financial independence and contribute to their local economies. Notably, 50% of the trainees were women, reinforcing NYF’s strong commitment to gender equity and economic empowerment.

But this fair was only one small part of NYF’s work in this area of the country.

As the district headquarters of Kailali District (one of nine districts in Sudurpashchim Province), Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City is home to a dynamic and ambitious potential workforce. However, many young people seek employment abroad due to limited local access to specialized skills training. Through Olgapuri Vocational School (OVS), NYF is equipping young professionals with high-demand, practical skills, enabling them to build fulfilling careers, contribute to Nepal’s growing industries, and strengthen their own communities—right at home.

Expanding Access to Skills Training

On July 29, 2023, OVS and Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City formed a partnership to begin equipping the region’s young people with electrical and plumbing skills. A major milestone was reached on March 8, 2024, when officials gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony of a new satellite OVS facility in Dhangadhi. The event was attended by Dhangadhi Mayor Gopi Hamal, city officials, NYF representatives, and funders from a UK-based organization, whose generosity is making this project possible. Once completed in June 2025, this facility will bring vocational training opportunities directly to the region.

Nepal’s Labor Migration Crisis

Labor migration is a major factor shaping Nepal’s workforce. In 2014, over 500,000 young Nepali people left the country in search of jobs. By last year, that number rose to 750,000—2.5% of Nepal’s entire population. Today, an estimated 3.5 million Nepali people (14% of the country’s population) are working overseas, primarily in Malaysia, India, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Over 82% of these workers are men, leaving behind millions of families struggling with economic and social strain.

With limited job opportunities in Nepal, young adults—especially those from subsistence farming communities—often turn to foreign labor markets as their only option. Unfortunately, many of these jobs come with steep recruitment fees, exploitative contracts, and unsafe working conditions. Unscrupulous employers frequently take advantage of Nepali workers’ low bargaining power. Cases of wage theft, forced labor, and inhumane treatment are common. Some even find themselves trapped in global conflict zones, such as those recruited into both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, despite high youth unemployment, Nepal’s own industries struggle to find skilled workers. Many businesses hire from abroad, bringing in Indian and other foreign laborers to fill positions that Nepali youth could have taken—if they had the right training. This means millions of dollars in wages are leaving Nepal’s economy instead of circulating locally.

Vocational training offers a sustainable solution. By equipping Nepali young people with high-demand skills, NYF is ensuring they can secure stable, well-paying jobs in Nepal, reducing reliance on migration and keeping Sudurpashchim’s workforce strong for the future.

Sustainable Growth Through Local Investment

Once the Dhangadhi Vocational School is completed, its funding will follow the same model as NYF’s 16 Nutritional Rehabilitation Homes. The local government will gradually take over operational costs, ensuring long-term sustainability by 2031.

Olgapuri Vocational School (OVS) provides industry-recognized certification in six high-demand trades:

• Electrical (3 months)
• Plumbing (3 months)
• Carpentry (3 months)
• Welding (4 months)
• Industrial Tailoring (6 months, focused on women’s empowerment)
• Greenhouse Farming (SAAET Project, 1-month program for women in Nepal’s southern plains)

The results are transformational. Between NYF’s reporting period of July 2023 to June 2024:

• 354 young adults completed construction training (electrical, plumbing, welding, carpentry).
• 151 young women completed the Industrial Tailoring program, preparing them for stable, well-paid work in Nepal’s textile industry.
• 100 young adults (92 women, 8 men) completed greenhouse farming training, helping them launch high-yield vegetable businesses in Nepal’s southern plains.

Employers actively seek out OVS graduates because of their high-quality training and professionalism. Many graduates quickly secure stable jobs, while others start their own businesses—creating a cycle of empowerment.

Shaping the Future of Sudurpashchim

NYF’s work aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for Nepal: creating dignified, well-paying jobs close to home allows young people to contribute directly to growing their local economies and improve living conditions nationwide. With the right skills, young professionals now have more opportunities to establish stable careers in Nepal’s expanding economy.

Through strategic partnerships and hands-on training, NYF and OVS are creating real opportunities—helping Nepal’s workforce grow and thrive within the country.

Industrial Tailoring Students Provide Support for the Caste Equality Project

Former Kamlaris enrolled at Olgapuri Vocational School make school uniforms for massive back-to-school initiative!

Through the Caste Equality Project, NYF has spent the last few months working with local families, teachers, and stakeholders to organize a massive push towards educational equity in Saptari District.

Saptari District is a remote area of southeastern Nepal. Casteism, systemic neglect, and other generational challenges have left families unable to leverage their incredible potential to build prosperity. Boldly encouraging and championing the launch of the Caste Equality Project was among the last major projects of our late founder, Olga Murray’s lifetime, and she has trusted the NYF staff and community to share her promise and see this work through the end. Our goal is to empower Nepali Dalit communities to access the opportunities and resources they need to build towards the futures they envision for themselves and their children.

Our work in Saptari District will equip the community to be the primary agents within this important movement—exactly how Olga would have done it.

With the new school year in the district beginning at the end of April, we are stocking school kitchens with fresh, high-quality, nutrient-rich ingredients to combat widespread malnutrition and encourage school attendance. A huge part of this effort includes providing hundreds of children with school uniforms.

But these aren’t just any uniforms. They’re actually being crafted by NYF’s very own students currently enrolled in Olgapuri Vocational School’s Industrial Tailoring program. This program offers more than just hands on vocational training—but also an empowered path to a new life.

From Vision to Reality: The Industrial Tailoring Course

NYF’s Industrial Tailoring course at Olgapuri Vocational School represents a story of a worthwhile transformation from one collective vision. The idea originated from a women’s empowerment group within the Freed Kamlaris Development Forum (FKDF). FKDF is a community-based nonprofit led by and developed specifically for former kamlaris—young Tharu women who were once trapped in a system of indentured servitude in the homes of Nepal’s elite. (You can read more about NYF’s 20-year-long project freeing kamlari girls and abolishing the practice here!)

During a group discussion, these women saw the need for professional training in industrial tailoring. They recognized the potential for a stable, flexible, and lucrative career in Nepal’s booming clothing export industry. Their request was so powerful and enthusiastic that our team had to find a way to provide this opportunity. In May 2021, we welcomed our first class of students in the new Industrial Tailoring class.

Industrial Tailoring quickly became Olgapuri Vocational School’s most popular courses for women. It’s not just about learning a valuable trade; it’s about creating opportunities, building empowerment, and reclaiming futures. These special training courses support these women in their journeys to advocate for a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Industrial Tailoring and the Pursuit of Caste Equality Today

In 2024, NYF’s Industrial Tailoring course continues to be a very popular option for women, including many former kamlaris.

We’re thrilled to share that the talented students currently enrolled in the course are supporting NYF’s efforts to advance educational equity in Saptari District by helping to create the much-needed school uniforms! Students are practicing their new skills by lovingly preparing structured shirts, jackets, skirts, slacks, and neckties for boys and girls in a variety of sizes—all while receiving an additional income!

Graduates of the Industrial Tailoring program have been supporting the process by fine-tuning the final products created by their peers. These graduates are earning a higher rate than they would at the factories they work for! The assignment is perfect for refining important tailoring skills that they’ll need in their new careers, while also earning a living wage through this special project. They’re creating a total of 670 sets of uniforms for the children in Saptari District to wear on the first day of school.

A Transformative Change in Saptari District

The timing of this educational push through the Caste Equality Project lined up perfectly with the industrial tailoring course. It has created a unique and lucrative opportunity for former kamlaris to support in creating these long-lasting school uniforms. We’re delighted that these women—who were once robbed of educational opportunities and their childhoods—are now empowered leaders who can support and transform communities in Nepal through projects like this.

As NYF continues to grow, our team molds and develops programs in the contexts of local need, potential, and participation. We strive to ensure our interventions in Nepali communities are done through sustainable measures that emphasize self-sufficiency whenever possible. What a golden example!

Join us in celebrating these resilient women who are leading the way to a better tomorrow. You too can support the Caste Equality Project and this educational push by making a donation today.

Staff Spotlight: Laxmi Ghimire

Laxmi Ghimire, NYF’s Career Counselor & VECC Program Manager

Ten years ago, Laxmi Ghimire had a solid job in office administration and HR at a Kathmandu IT company—but the sector just wasn’t the right match. “Every second day I would feel like switching jobs,” she recalls. Her coworkers were very supportive, but, she says, “I was not enjoying it at all.”

Her one favorite part of the position was the Corporate Social Responsibility fund. The company matched one percent of each employee’s salary. This fund provided scholarships to 13 students, including future software engineers. Laxmi helped identify and manage these scholarship recipients. “These students attended a very big university in Nepal,” she says. “They had not even dreamed of that university if the company had not given the scholarship. This was the beautiful part of my job. This was the thing I wanted in my life.”

Laxmi & NYF

Laxmi Ghimire began exploring job opportunities focused on social work, and she sent in an application for an “Associate Career Counselor” position at NYF. Her work and education background made her an incredibly strong candidate, and in July 2014, she joined the Vocational Education & Career Counseling team.

“I took a risk,” she says about swapping careers. “But it was wonderful taking a risk.” Laxmi has been on the NYF team ever since, and she is now both a Career Counselor and the VECC Program Manager. Since joining NYF, Laxmi has pursued additional qualifications, including a Master of Technical Education & Vocational Training degree from Kathmandu University, allowing her to grow her own impact for each of the students she reaches.

Laxmi matches young adults with career paths that allow them to reach their unique goals. Her work emphasizes technical education programs, but sometimes these programs are stepping-stones for students in special circumstances.

Jivan’s Journey

She shares one memorable example of a young man named Jivan*, who came from a hilly region in western Nepal where the terrain made agricultural work so difficult that most young men took migrant labor jobs in India or Saudi Arabia. Jivan wanted a career in government, to improve conditions for villages like his. So he put himself all the way through a master’s degree in sociology—and then was devastated when he was unable to find any job at all.

Jivan eventually accepted a teaching job near his village, where he was paid less than $80 a month. His relatives, neighbors, and peers pressured him to seek a higher-paying job abroad, so he became a migrant laborer in Saudi Arabia. Conditions were terrible. After two years with no improvement in sight, unable to meet his basic expenses, and profoundly homesick, he reached a point where he preferred being unemployed in Nepal than remaining stuck where he was.

Jivan meets Laxmi at Olgapuri Vocational School

Fortunately, soon after returning to Nepal he attended an Olgapuri Vocational School presentation in his area. Jivan connected with Laxmi for a career counselling session. He thought if he completed a vocational training course, he’d at least be able to take on skilled work, even if he wasn’t using his degree.

Jivan completed the three-month Olgapuri Vocational School (see page on Facebook) electrical course and quickly found a solid job in Kathmandu earning enough to cover not only his basic expenses and support for his family, but also the tuition for a government prep course that he hoped would finally open the door to his dream.

He worked hard for 11 months, performing electrical work full-time by day and attending evening classes. Then, Jivan sat for his government exam—and passed. He is now working at the officer level in the Nepali government. His nontraditional career path has provided him with a wealth of experiences that help him understand the plight of so many others throughout his country, and he’s a better representative because of it.

Laxmi admits that this impact story is unusual. Most of the young adults she works with stick with their new vocational trade, building thriving small businesses in their home villages, establishing themselves in a 9-5 job in one of Nepal’s cities, or using their new skill as an extra source of income when they’re not needed on the family farm. No matter what path each graduate takes, the positive impact on their life trajectory far exceeds the cost of the training.

“We see thousands of lives transforming,” Laxmi says. “Very small things, very small contributions we do, and their life transforms. This really brings goosebumps within us.”

Challenge & Opportunity

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Laxmi and her team had to think creatively to continue offering technical education opportunities during lockdown. They finally decided to try taking Olgapuri Vocational School trainings outside of Kathmandu, with trainers isolating in rural villages and then offering the three-month courses to local young adults. This new approach to vocational training was much more successful than anyone at NYF expected.

“And now I would say this pandemic has created an opportunity,” Laxmi explains. “[These students] never would have gotten access if we were only limited to Olgapuri. And now because we were not limited to Olgapuri, many people have access to that training. That was the challenge as well as the opportunity during the pandemic.”

There’s now a waiting list of rural municipalities hoping to bring NYF vocational training courses to their areas. “Satellite” plumbing and electrical trainings are in especially high demand. The presence of locally based plumbers and electricians instantly makes both amenities much more affordable and accessible to these communities, drastically improving the quality of life for everyone living nearby.

Laxmi is excited about the potential for expansion in this area. Many young adults in Nepal aren’t aware of how lucrative technical careers can be, believing their only options are college, subsistence farming, or migrant labor.

Beyond Satisfaction

For Laxmi, there’s special joy in watching prospective students begin connecting the dots between one of our three-month courses and the potential to build forward with power. During orientation presentations, she scans the crowd for “hopeful eyes”—that moment it dawns on someone that they’ve found a viable, expansive path.

“When they come to the training, they come with lots of dreams,” she says. “It’s a short-term training, but they come with big dreams. That’s a wonderful part of my job. That is the best part, I think.”

Laxmi Ghimire wishes all of NYF’s generous supporters could witness each of these transformations the way she does. “Just a small donation makes a big transformation,” she says. “A big change in somebody’s life. It’s something beyond satisfaction.”

Industrial Tailoring at Olgapuri Vocational School

Industrial Tailoring has quickly become one of Olgapuri Vocational School’s most popular courses for women. The average monthly wage for our graduates is 30,000 rupees per month ($260), with room to grow. Those with more experience are making as much as 45,000 rupees ($390)—over three times Nepal’s minimum wage!

Over the past year, our team has had conversations with uneasy supporters about our new Industrial Tailoring vocational training course, which is held exclusively for women.

We’re hearing two main concerns:

• “Sewing is traditionally undervalued as ‘women’s work’. Shouldn’t we be trying to encourage young women to break free of these sorts of industries, rather than continuing this pattern?”

• “Isn’t the garment / textile industry particularly dangerous and exploitative? I don’t want my donations to go towards placing these bright young women into sweatshops!”

Maybe you’ve had similar concerns! In fact, people on the global team and on the board have discussed these same worries. At NYF, we deeply appreciate how thoughtful our supporters are, and how engaged you are in looking out for the children and youth we serve.

Our Commitment to Women’s Empowerment

First and foremost, our global team is committed to empowering women to follow their dreams. This is especially the case when their options are limited because of entrenched gender roles and hierarchies. We believe every girl and every woman should be free and safe to choose her own destiny!

We’re also appalled by the conditions within many of the world’s factories—not just garment factories. No one on our team wants to see any one of our beneficiaries trapped in an oppressive, unsafe working environment.

All Olgapuri Vocational School courses are openly advertised as available for all genders. At the orientation presentations where young people are given application options, women are always strongly encouraged to apply. Some of the instructors for these courses are women, giving potential students clear evidence that women are welcome.

However, despite all this, NYF has struggled to interest young women in signing up for these opportunities. As a result, enrollment in these programs is overwhelmingly male (a staggering 90%).

Our team has been working for several years to understand this phenomenon and to provide good solutions. Young women know they are welcome to apply for these courses in male-dominated career fields.

But many of these young women still don’t feel safe in those industries.

NYF can place female construction graduates in positions where we know they will be hired, paid equitably, and respected by their employers. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee that they will not experience sexual harassment and other sexist aggression in the workplace.

Many young women don’t want to walk that challenging path, even if it pays more. They just want to make a decent living, gaining personal economic freedom without entering a career where conditions simply won’t feel safe for them as women. We can’t fault them for that.

Former Kamlaris Propose Industrial Tailoring Course

Olgapuri Vocational School’s Industrial Tailoring course was proposed by a group of former kamlaris. This initial group of young women met one another in a women’s empowerment group run by the Former Kamlaris Development Forum (FKDF). (The FKDF is a community-based nonprofit NYF helped found in the Tharu communities impacted by the traditional kamlari practice.)

In a group discussion, several of these women shared that they wished NYF offered a course in Industrial Tailoring. It seemed strange to them that this course wasn’t available. After all, they reasoned: clothing is one of Nepal’s biggest exports, and the job market in this area is growing. Careers in this field are stable, well-paying, and have room for growth and flexibility.

Even knowing that women were encouraged to apply for the construction training programs, some of these women almost felt left out by OVS because we weren’t offering trainings in the career fields most likely to attract female engagement.

The freedom to choose among a set of only male-dominated options just didn’t feel like real freedom.

Fortunately, these empowered young women knew they could ask NYF directly about such an option. They also had a growing group of women behind them who all agreed they’d leap at the chance to earn their certifications in Industrial Tailoring.

When this group approached NYF, our team let them know the common concerns about workplace dangers in the garment industry. The young women responded that construction trades are also dangerous. They all knew someone who had experienced an electrical accident or been injured by a power tool. And as far as exploitation was concerned, these young women had already survived kamlari bondage. They know better than most that bad actors exist in all industries.

Thanks to NYF and the FKDF, though, they also possess the extraordinary inner tools that empower them to defend themselves from exploitation—and motivate them to defend their sisters as well.

Their request was so powerful and enthusiastic that our team had to find a way to provide this opportunity.

The Curriculum

NYF’s team made connections with local high-quality garment factories known for their fair practices and safe working conditions. They asked for their guidance in creating an ideal classroom and for help developing a specialized curriculum. These experts shared a list of skills all their employees needed to master, as well as a list of “dream skills” that made tailors especially competitive in the workforce.

Being highly skilled in a trade is a major safeguard against exploitation in any industry. This is because it allows workers the flexibility to seek out better workplaces without risking financial ruin.

Our team designed a six-month course which would prepare trainees to create high-quality garments for local consumption as well as for international export. Importantly, the training also includes the information needed for a student to establish her own small clothing business.

The curriculum covers industrial machine operation and maintenance, different kinds of stitches and their uses, measurement skills, fabric types and their uses, clothing design principles, and how to take items from printed designs to fabric cutting to assembly and through to the finishing touches. Safety is always an important topic as well.

Trainees are given specialized life skills and group therapy sessions (and, where needed, personal therapy as well) through NYF’s Ankur Counseling Center.

They also participate in motivational sessions on women’s empowerment!

During the entire six-month course, trainees live in the Olgapuri Girls’ Hostel. This is a space created especially for young women in vocational training courses (many of whom are not familiar with city life) so they can feel safe and secure during their training.

The first four months of the training consist of classroom instruction, followed by two months of paid On-the-Job training in one of the city’s high-quality factories. This is a paid apprenticeship period, with pay being nearly double Nepal’s minimum wage.

Meena Kumari Chaudhary (left, Asst. Trainer) is a former kamlari—and she was also one of the earliest graduates of our Industrial Training program! She’s thrilled to be using the skills she learned here to empower more women to enter this growth industry.

Here, she is pictured with Lead Trainer Anju Thapa. Both women have become role models for the young women hoping to build a sustainable career in tailoring!

Workplace Safety

Unfortunately, sweatshops do exist in Nepal. These cramped factories regularly ignore laws and regulations, have extremely poor and unsafe working conditions, and have unscrupulous bosses who demand inhumane working hours and withhold pay. NYF would never partner with these organizations, let alone intentionally place a trainee in such a working environment.

Kathmandu is also home to factories where workers are treated fairly, paid well, and conduct their work in well-lit, airy spaces that are kept tidy, with wide paths for evacuating in an emergency, ensuring safety for everyone. These are the workplaces our graduates enter, as a group of empowered women determined to build their futures—and continue working towards a more equitable world.

Bindu’s Story

Bindu* has survived horrific ordeals over the past two years. During the COVID pandemic, she started dating an older man, against her parents’ wishes. Soon, this man convinced her to run away with him to start a new life in India. Dreaming of a beautiful future, Bindu followed him across the border. Bindu quickly learned that the man’s intention all along had been to traffic her.

Betrayed and heartbroken, Bindu relied on her inner strength to survive her situation—and she somehow managed to escape her captor and return to Nepal.

But the nightmare wasn’t over. When Bindu finally reached her home village, her parents rejected and disowned her.

Fortunately, Bindu found an organization working with women who have survived sex trafficking, and they helped her file a case against the man who trafficked her. Thanks to Bindu’s courage, he’s now in prison, where he can’t hurt any more girls and women.

Bindu found housing in a women’s shelter in Kathmandu as she prepared for her next steps. One of the staff members there heard about NYF’s new Industrial Tailoring program—and immediately thought of Bindu.

Bindu has taken to the Industrial Tailoring skillset extraordinarily well. For the first time since she ran away from home with a heart full of hope, Bindu feels like her dreams are truly within reach.

“I never thought I’d be able to acquire a skill that would pay me this much,” she says, adding, “Economic independence is very important to me, as I have no family to support me. The work environment is also safe and pleasant. The other girls and women that I work with have become like my family—and my greatest support system. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet them and work with them.”

A long waiting list…

In the first year of its existence, the Industrial Tailoring course quickly became one of OVS’s most sought-after options. Our team has already trained 149 women—and there’s a long waiting list. Most of these women are former kamlaris from western Nepal, but we’ve also received numerous referrals from Kathmandu women’s shelters and other aid organizations. This training has already empowered single mothers, survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, and women who have escaped trafficking.

We are so grateful for the support that allows us to offer these women this remarkable opportunity. We hope to be able to continue offering it as long as young women are interested.

The Empowering Freed Kamlaris program is one of NYF’s greatest achievements. For more information on the former kamlaris and the FKDF, please visit https://nyf.news/efk

World Cup Qatar 2022: The Need for Vocational Training in Nepal

World Cup Qatar 2022 is the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East—and only the second to be held entirely in Asia. This global sports tournament should be a time of great celebration and unity.

Unfortunately, as fans across the world tune in to cheer for their favorite teams, a much less joyful story has come to light. That story is about the thousands of migrant workers from places like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal who built the World Cup 2022 stadiums and other infrastructure necessary for Qatar to host this massive event.

These migrant workers have recounted stories of horrific working and living conditions—and many have died. (We have compiled a list of news stories below.)

Most of the stories we’re seeing published in the west place the blame on Qatar—as though without the World Cup, these migrant workers would never have been in such a situation.

Unfortunately, the truth is that the World Cup has only shined a light on a long-term, widespread problem impacting these communities.

Youth underemployment in Nepal hovers around 35%, with many young people unable to access the skills training or other resources necessary to make a living in their own communities. Many of these young people have no choice but to take migrant labor jobs abroad, sending money home to their families as often as they can.

Conditions for these workers are brutal: long hours performing dangerous, back-breaking work for low wages. Many report that their passports are kept by their employers, preventing them from returning home on their own if they wish. Health care options are effectively non-existent. Unfortunately, many Nepalis in this situation pass away or become seriously injured—and their selfless efforts to create a better life for their children leave them worse-off than when they began. The death toll among migrant workers from Nepal has been steadily increasing for years—and the majority of these deaths are not happening in Qatar.

This has been the reality for millions of Nepali young people long before Qatar began designing their World Cup stadiums. And it will continue after the World Cup has ended.

At NYF, we believe that the best way to end this cycle isn’t by focusing on conditions in Qatar and other countries that rely on migrant labor. Rather, it’s by creating better working opportunities at home in Nepal (and other home countries!).

This approach allows individual young people to access lucrative careers close to home, creating opportunities for economic and infrastructure growth in their own communities. NYF’s Vocational Education & Career Counseling programs and Olgapuri Vocational School were designed to provide exactly this kind of alternative for young Nepalis.

Here are just a few stories that illustrate the impact of these programs!

Sustainable Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Training

Kalpana got married soon after she was freed from kamlari bondage. She settled with her husband’s family on their small plot of rented land. They have five children, and were eager to give them the best opportunities possible.

Her husband considered taking a job overseas to make extra money, but he and Kalpana were both anxious about this option. When Kalpana heard about NYF’s one-month SAAET Project, she signed up right away, participating in the November 2021 course.

Immediately after the training, in December, she enlisted her husband to help her construct their first greenhouse. They started planting off-season vegetables on their land, and success was immediate.

Kalpana is now growing highly marketable tomatoes, bitter gourd, cucumbers, pumpkins, and cauliflower. She is currently making a profit of 20,000 Nepali rupees per month (minimum wage in Nepal is 13,450 rupees per month, or $115).

This school year, Kalpana used some of her profits to register her two school-aged children in a private school. “The economic independence I’m gaining from greenhouse farming has made me confident in every aspect,” she says proudly.

Though some programs are designed especially for women, we’ve found that our entrepreneurial graduates often enlist the help of their husbands when launching their new businesses. Not only does this maximize their effectiveness and profits—it creates jobs in the home community, allowing families to build financial success as a team!

OVS Construction: Carpentry

Ashok, 20, grew up in Dolakha District with his family of five. They depend on subsistence farming for their livelihood—an extremely tough lifestyle in mountainous regions.

Ashok is a smart, fastidious young man with strong attention to detail. He knew he was capable of providing much more for his family than farming allowed, and he dreamed of living somewhere outside of his village. But without access to training or apprenticeship opportunities, and no money for traveling to a vocational school, he wasn’t sure how to kickstart a new career.

In early 2022, Ashok heard about a career orientation presentation being offered by NYF in a nearby village. Curious, he attended. He was shocked to hear that the program was free for eligible young adults—including travel and room and board during the three-month course!

Ashok submitted an application for the Carpentry Training course and was placed in the March 2022 session on Olgapuri Campus.

After receiving his certification three months later, Ashok worked as a paid apprentice at a large furniture house in Kathmandu. His performance there was so impressive that the employer offered him a full-time job in June. Ashok is making around $225 per month—nearly twice Nepal’s minimum wage. He’s sending much of it home to support his family.

With his highly-valued skills, Ashok has the ability to shift jobs at will without ever leaving Nepal. He considers this NYF training to be the most important milestone of his career to date!

OVS Construction: Plumbing

Reeta*, 25, lives in a hilly region in western Nepal with her husband. One day, while the COVID pandemic was ongoing, Reeta learned that an Olgapuri Vocational School “satellite” plumbing training program was coming to their area. She signed up for the program right away, but her husband wasn’t so sure. He, like many others, considered plumbing to be a man’s job.

When Reeta mentioned this domestic push-back in class, NYF plumbing trainer Sailesh Khatri offered to meet with Reeta’s husband to talk about his concerns. Though Reeta’s husband was uncomfortable at first, he was willing to listen as Sailesh explained the special value of a skilled trade for a woman. Besides, Sailesh added, Reeta was showing a real knack for the work!

Eventually, Reeta’s husband decided to wait and see what happened once Reeta was certified. He didn’t need to wait long before realizing that Reeta and Sailesh were right.

After completing the program in February 2021, Reeta was hired as an on-call technician for a major government project. She is responsible for all the plumbing repair in her village and is paid accordingly!

We’re especially proud of the community-wide impact our plumbing program is having in rural communities. For more on this, check out a story we shared in April 2022.

World Cup Qatar 2022 Highlights Opportunities for Growth

Working grueling overseas migrant jobs isn’t just physically demanding. It’s incredibly lonely. It’s discouraging to build marvelous infrastructure for strangers when family members back home don’t have access to such luxuries. Because of the ways they are treated, migrant workers also often feel isolated, unknown, and even disposable.

When following up with NYF’s young vocational training graduates, many of them report great pride and satisfaction about working within their own communities. Vocational training programs like ours are transforming individual lives. They are also improving entire villages in the process—not only in a physical sense, but in an emotional and psychological sense as well.

Let’s make sure the lessons learned during World Cup Qatar 2022 lead into more empowering opportunities for young adults in Nepal. Your donation today will help us continue offering these incredible courses to young people throughout Nepal.

Learn more about the workers behind World Cup Qatar 2022

• Human Rights Watch – FIFA/Qatar: Migrant Workers Call for Compensation for Abuses
• The Washington Post – Families of migrant workers who died in Qatar are waiting for answers
• The New York Times – The World Cup’s Forgotten Team
• Reuters – In a stadium of their own, migrant workers say their sweat made World Cup happen
• CBS News – Qatar acknowledges “between 400 and 500” workers died preparing for World Cup
• PBS News Hour – Migrant workers recount abuse while building stadiums for World Cup in Qatar
• BBC News – Qatar World Cup: Families seek answers over migrant worker deaths

NYF’s partnership with One Day’s Wages: A successful Vocational Education project!

In late 2019, NYF launched a matching campaign with One Day’s Wages to fund 52 students in our Vocational Education & Career Counseling program. Thanks to support from friends like you, we were able to meet our fundraising goal— and we received a generous matching grant from One Day’s Wages to complete this project in 2020.

Though the pandemic caused a delay in starting and completing this vocational education project, we are happy to finally share how successful it ended up being. We are also incredibly grateful for the One Day’s Wages team for being so patient, flexible, and encouraging while working with us on this project as we navigated COVID-19.

The Vocational Education Training Course

This project funded a 12-week training course for 52 students in our Olgapuri Vocational School training program. 31 of these students graduated from the electrical course in Barbardiya Municipality, and 21 from the plumbing course in Bhanu Municipality.

Our original plans were to invite our students from multiple regions in Nepal to Olgapuri Vocational School in Kathmandu. However, NYF had to shift the program to a satellite model due to COVID-19. In this new set-up, our incredible teachers transported their equipment to villages in Barbardiya and Bhanu Municipalities to self-isolate before teaching the twelve-week course to local young adults. These satellite trainings were successful and eagerly received by individual students and communities. As a result, we are working to identify ways to make them a part of our regular programming.

During the training, our students received hands-on instruction and practice (approximately 80% of class time) as well as theoretical material (20% of class time). Theoretical elements included relevant course reading, as well as health, first-aid, and safety training. It also included entrepreneurship development, and life skills components like goal setting and decision making, communication, basic computer use, and job search skills.

In July 2021, our 52 students graduated.

As we come up on one year since the vocational education courses began, we’re thrilled to share the positive impact this project had on its students, their families, and their communities.

Community Impact

Much to the benefit of their communities, the majority of our electrical program graduates have decided to work in their hometowns.

Before this program, electricians and their labor were very expensive. That made electricity unreliable at best (and thus more of a luxury than a real utility), and dangerous at worst (in the event someone decided to attempt repairs on their own, without training). NYF’s electrical graduates discovered quickly that there was plentiful work available for them close to home.

Local construction businesses can now take on new projects with greater confidence, since now they know there are skilled, trusted technicians nearby to accomplish this work. This, plus the affordability of services, has increased the demand for construction projects in the community. This is already resulting in an economy where local money continues to support local businesses. Even as the COVID crisis drags on, the standard of living is on the rise in the areas that have received these training courses.

Community members, too, soon learned that they can now receive prompt, affordable, high-quality electrical services from local young people who share their dialect.

Some of the plumbers and electricians in these two courses have already established their own small businesses. They’ve taken on apprentices from among the local young adults — creating new jobs and new experts.

We’re also proud that local governments and construction companies in nearby areas are requesting more opportunities for vocational education trainings. Even with this increase of new skilled workers, there is still enormous demand for exactly these kinds of experts. Nepal’s infrastructure is developing rapidly, and empowering local young people with the skills they need to provide these services will do tremendous good across the country.

One House, One Tap: Bhanu Municipality

“One House, One Tap” is a country-wide government project that provides municipalities in Nepal with the funds to install running water in each household. This project had been of interest to local officials of Bhanu Municipality for a long time. However, there were not enough skilled plumbers in their region to provide the required labor. Thanks to this campaign, the region now has plenty of new plumbers. This has allowed Bhanu Municipality to finally take advantage of the One House, One Tap project!

We’re thrilled to share that our plumbing graduates are involved in installing running water to 55 households in Yansing Village and 32 households in Chokot. By February 2022, 12 graduates had installed and fitted the main underground pipeline to one of the villages. They also built two entire water reservoirs nearly to completion.

Until this time, Yansing Village in Bhanu Municipality only contained 7 taps total, which had been connected to a small natural spring at the top of a nearby hill (rather than to larger-scale infrastructure, as the new ones are). Individuals—most of whom live about 15 minutes from the nearest tap on foot—fetched water from these public taps on a rotating basis. Since it is so difficult to bring this water home, most families reserved it mostly for cooking and drinking purposes only, with hygiene being neglected.

The arrival of plumbers in this region is having a near-immediate, widespread public health impact. With tap water available in each household, families will be better able to maintain far better personal hygiene. This will help slow the spread of disease and increase their available time and energy for other tasks.

Individual Impact

Upendra G.

Upendra is a village social worker in Bhanu Municipality. He was enthusiastically involved in bringing the NYF training to the area. During the training period, he provided snacks for the trainees.

Upendra was one of the first people to hire the training graduates. He asked four of them to construct a full bathroom at his home. This included a sink, a toilet, a shower, drainage, and tiles, plus a tap for washing muddy feet.

Upendra’s bathroom is in a standalone building near his fields. It is also attached to a 1,000-liter water tank. His is now one of the best restrooms in the entire village. Soon after completing the construction, Upendra invited the local mayor to view this restroom.

“The mayor was surprised to see such a good toilet in the village,” Upendra said happily. “I shared how thorough and excellent the NYF training is, and how it has helped transform the youth with strong skills. NYF’s training has really been transformative for the entire village.”

Girija G.

Girija is a young NYF plumbing course graduate from Vanu Municipality. He lives with his family of lifelong subsistence farmers. When he married last year, he started searching for an additional livelihood to ensure the growing family could improve their self-sufficiency. He worried he might have to leave the village, or even the country, to find work.

Following the NYF plumbing course, Girija has good-paying work here in his own village and in villages nearby. This means that his family has the benefit of both his income and his presence. He is currently balancing plumbing work with farming to maximize the effectiveness on his family’s farm. This is an enormous gift to his parents, who are aging, and to his wife and their future children. Even working part-time, Girija is bringing in about 20,000 Nepalese rupees per month ($172), which is over 50% more than minimum wage for a full-time job in Nepal.

Girija’s parents are bursting with pride at their son’s accomplishments. He has become a huge credit to the village and is providing for the family in ways they only dreamed possible—everything a parent in Nepal dreams of. Meanwhile, Girija’s wife is happy about the family’s increased stability, even in this time of uncertainty with the COVID pandemic.

With this money, Girija and his family are excited about future possibilities. A potential full bathroom of their own, for example, which would immediately improve their family’s health. They may use some funds to purchase meat, dairy, or other staples to supplement their home-grown diets. They may upgrade some farming equipment, invest in other housing upgrades, or begin saving for schooling for their future children. This vocational education course has opened future possibilities for them all.

From all of us at NYF, thank you and dhanyabad!

We cannot overstate the continuing economic impacts of this pandemic in Nepal. Now more than ever, the youth of Nepal need viable job readiness training and career investment to allow the country to recover. Your loving support makes such a difference for these young adults and their communities!

Updates from NYF President Som Paneru

Dear NYF Community,

I hope you are all continuing to stay safe and healthy. Earlier this month, the Nepal government made an announcement to ease COVID-19 restrictions. Among other things, this included the physical re-opening of schools and public spaces. This decision has several impacts on our programs at NYF, and I am delighted to share these new updates with all of you.

COVID-19 Updates & Response Programs

NYF’s COVID Isolation Center at our flagship Nutrition Rehabilitation Home (NRH) ran until September 16, 2021. Since its opening, we’ve admitted and treated more than 240 COVID-positive patients at our facilities. Following this recent government decision to re-open public spaces, NYF suspended isolation center services on September 17th to fully resume our regular NRH programming. We are continuing to produce Lito, our homemade “super” flour, at the NRH and are still distributing them to communities in need via the Lito for Life program. For more updates and information about our COVID-19 response, visit NYF’s COVID Timeline.

Education

Until now, schools and colleges nationwide have been closed. Out of the 643 scholarship students NYF currently supports, 70% have been attending online classes run by their schools and colleges. After this most recent decision, most NYF children will likely be able to return to in-person classes later this fall. Additionally, after a massive COVID-related delay, the long-awaited examinations for grade 12 students finally took place on September 15, 2021. About 40 NYF students took the exam.

Vocational Education & Career Counseling

As you may recall, most of our vocational training programs were put on hold earlier this year.  We are happy to announce that NYF has safely resumed some training programs in the electrical, welding, carpentry and plumbing trades. Effective last week, we have 4 vocational training satellite courses currently running. NYF is also preparing to complete 2 more Sustainable Agriculture and Entrepreneurship Trainings (SAAET) by the end of the year.

Nutrition Rehabilitation Homes (NRH) & Nutrition Camps

There are currently 8 children being treated at the NRH for malnourishment. We are expecting an increase in the number of admissions as we resume our regular services and programming. Our NYF nutrition staff is also busy strategizing how to safely conduct our regular nutrition camps this year.

New Life Center (NLC)

Due to travel restrictions brought about by COVID-19, patients had a difficult time traveling to the New Life Center in Kathmandu Valley to receive treatment. In order to increase access to supportive care for children living with HIV/AIDS in rural communities, NYF has redesigned the NLC program.

The aim of this redesign is to bring New Life Center resources to a larger population of children. To do so, we’ve moved beyond the “residential-treatment only” approach to an expanded “outreach and community-based” approach. According to the new plan, the NLC will cater residential services to approximately 20 children, while all the other services will be completed in rural communities via community outreach. These community outreach programs include awareness and advocacy, food and essentials delivery, financial support for caretakers, and tele-counseling services.

While this program will still be run from the NLC office in Kathmandu, we are excited to partner with a number of grassroots organizations — all doing incredible work in the communities we plan to serve.

Olgapuri Children’s Village

First and foremost, all 71 children (and house parents!) at Olgapuri remain safe and healthy. This year, nine students will soon be moving out after graduating high school. We are so proud of each graduate, and look forward to seeing them go on to do incredible things!

Thank you for your support.

Friends, we are deeply grateful for your continued love and support for the children, young adults, and families in our care. Thank you, also, to our staff on the ground in Nepal and for their incredible work. As always, if you have any questions about these updates or would like more information about our programs in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@nepalyouthfoundation.org.

With gratitude,

Som Paneru
NYF President

International Youth Day 2021: SAAET Stories from Early Project Graduates!

International Youth Day

International Youth Day occurs every year on August 12^th. It’s a valuable chance created by the UN to focus on the biggest issues facing young people throughout the world. The theme in 2021 is “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health.” As the world population grows and nations respond to climate change, sustainable food systems will become more important than ever. To achieve the necessary changes, the participation of young people is critical!

This International Youth Day is a great opportunity to share some of the earliest success stories from NYF’s new SAAET Project!

The SAAET Project

Saaet is Nepali for “an auspicious moment of starting a new journey” – and at NYF, it stands for Sustainable Agricultural and Entrepreneur Training.

This project tackles gender inequality, skills development, and food systems all at once. Designed especially with young women in mind, this course brings simplified greenhouse technology and up-to-date organic agricultural practices to individuals hoping to achieve financial success while staying within their home communities.

NYF’s Vocational Education and Career Counseling Program (VECC) offers multiple job readiness and vocational education options to Nepalese young people seeking career opportunities close to home. Those we help are experiencing many different kinds of barriers to economic success—but those most in need are usually young women.

The SAAET Project is just one part of NYF’s work to combat child marriage in Nepal, and part of our commitment to helping young women and girls find economic empowerment on their own terms.

Our first class of SAAET students were Freed Kamlaris from the Western Terai. Their training took place in March-April 2021—let’s see how they’re doing!

Sunita T.

When Sunita was only 13 years old, her father sent her to work as a kamlari far away from her home in Bardiya District. In exchange for her labor, the family was promised two things: they would be allowed a large enough plot of leased land to feed the family year-round, and Sunita would be sent to school.

As so often happened, the family broke their promise about Sunita’s education. She worked as a kamlari for 5 years, until she was 18 years old. NYF knew about her situation from surveys conducted in the village, and we had to threaten legal action to finally bring her home.

Sunita is 26 years old now, and the memories of her days as a kamlari are still fresh and painful.

She worked extremely long hours, from early in the morning to very late at night, locked in the house doing cooking, cleaning, childcare, and any other work that came up. Sunita hopes no child ever has to suffer that way again.

Once rescued, Sunita enrolled in grade 6 and managed to complete her studies through grade 10. In Nepal, all students must take the notorious “Iron Gate” exam (the Secondary Education Examination) at the end of grade 10. This extremely rigorous test determines who can move forward. Sunita was unable to pass the Iron Gate, so her academic studies ended there.

She got married in her early 20s and, through NYF support, took an 18-month vocational course in agriculture. Sunita and her husband decided they preferred the idea of farming over the notion of working for someone else, so they applied for a microloan from their local co-operative and started banana farming. Soon they added vegetables, chickens, and pigs. Sunita and her husband have been happy to be able to pay back the co-operative loan, and they’re paying the lease on their land through their own earnings now.

But Sunita hopes to be able to own the land outright and expand the business further.

That’s why she was so happy to join the first class of the SAAET Project. The material taught in the class expanded Sunita’s existing knowledge of best agricultural practices and gave her great new ideas for her farm. She also learned helpful business practices!

When she returned home, the spring COVID outbreak was just hitting the Western Terai, and shutdowns made accessing building materials more difficult than expected. But Sunita was still able to start working on her own new greenhouse, which will allow her even more crop flexibility. She is already harvesting her first greenhouse crops, and she’s looking forward to being able to continue growing vegetables through the winter months. Sunita and her husband are hoping their farm will become a model for other farmers in the region.

“Dhanyabad, NYF!” she says. “I am very grateful for the invaluable support I have received from NYF which has transformed my life beyond my imagination.”

Lila C.

When Lila was born, her entire family was bonded in a practice called Kamaiya. Nepal abolished the Kamaiya system in 2000, freeing the family from this exploitative practice. But without much government support for families like Lila’s, they soon needed access to farmland they could only get by making Lila a kamlari for their landlord. (Kamlari was the last remaining piece of the old Kamaiya system.)

“My landlords did not send me to school, but I missed going to school badly. I was studying in grade 4 when I had to become a kamlari,” Lila says. “I had to sacrifice my education just for my family to be able to get two decent meals a day. There was no way the landlord would give us the land for farming if I refused to work.” Lila was ten years old and carrying the threat of her whole family’s starvation on her shoulders.

As a kamlari, “I had to do all the work from cooking, cleaning and looking after the landlord’s children, to cutting and collecting fodder for the cattle,” she recalls. “If I was ever late to come home or late for work, I would be scolded badly.”

One year into her time in bondage, Lila learned about an anti-kamlari campaign in her village. “I feel so lucky that I did not have to work as a kamlari as long as so many of my friends did,” Lila says. NYF had been collecting the names of known kamlari girls, and Lila’s name had appeared on these lists. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to go to school after returning home, but on the day of my rescue, I heard that the same organization would be sending me to school, too. I felt so happy. And I suddenly felt so relieved and light at heart because I would not have to bear the anger and scolding from the landlords anymore.”

Lila studied all the way through 12^th grade and then completed an 18-month agricultural science course on an NYF scholarship.

She and several other freed girls established their local co-operative to help their community grow its economic power, and Lila helped her family start up a vegetable farm that could feed them year-round and even bring in up to $60 a month.

Lila got her greenhouse started right away when she returned home from the SAAET training. Her family is already seeing the benefits of the program on their diet and on their ability to bring in extra cash! She is looking forward to adding in the drip irrigation system soon, and is planning her strategies for fall and winter crops.

Now, at age 26, Lila knew she needed a bit more specialized knowledge to take the family farm from subsistence agriculture to a fully-fledged business. She was thrilled to hear about the SAAET Project.

“During the training I learnt about increasing production by growing vegetables throughout the year using more efficient tools and techniques,” she explains. “I also learnt about organic farming and producing organic pesticides by myself. NYF not only provided the skills but also a start-up fund for us to build a greenhouse. With the money and the skills, I and my family have built a greenhouse near our house and have already started vegetable farming. I am confident that we can produce far more than before and increase our income. Gradually we plan to expand greenhouse farming and establish a successful business.”

Arati T.

Arati was ten years old when her father sold her off as a kamlari in a different village. “Even now, I always get sad and wonder what made my father to sell me as a kamlari,” Arati says. “I try and console myself that it was not entirely his fault alone, and that he was a victim of the oppression and the ill practice of slavery of the Tharu people.”

Memories of her kamlari years are painful and difficult for Arati.

“My parents had sent me as a kamlari on the condition that I should be sent to school. The landlords therefore admitted me in school, but I was able to go to school only after finishing all the work at home. I had to wake up in the dark hours before four o’clock in the morning and start my chores. I looked after the landlord’s children, cooked, cleaned, did the dishes, and all the other chores around the home. The landlords would get very angry if I made any mistake and scolded me constantly.” Arati takes some faint consolation in the fact that her landlords did not beat her.

“I was desperately looking for a release from this condition,” Arati recalls. “I wanted to be free like other children and go to school like them.”

After three years, a massive anti-kamlari campaign took hold in Arati’s village and NYF rescued her from bondage by NYF. “I felt very lucky that I got this life changing opportunity,” she says, “and I pursued my studies seriously.”

Arati recently completed the 12^th grade. During her studies, she was part of a group of freed girls who established a local co-operative for savings and credit. She’s a proud contributing member of this co-op.

Back in 2018, Arati and her family acquired a plot of land to start a vegetable farm—but they have not managed to run it in a systematic, commercial manner. Arati signed up right away when she heard about the SAAET Project, knowing the training would make a huge difference.

“During the training we (21 girls including me) learnt a lot about using more advanced tools and technology for greenhouse farming, and about adopting agriculture as an income-generating enterprise.  

After I returned home from training, I have built a greenhouse and started vegetable farming with the help of my family. I now have the knowledge about both seasonal and off-season farming, which will enable us to produce vegetables throughout the year. I am confident that by using the knowledge and skill I acquired from the training, we can easily increase the production and income by as much as three times than what we are able to do now. My parents are also very happy and proud of me and the work we are doing as a family.”

Those in Arati’s village are already spreading the word that she has vegetables to sell! Her farm, and others like it, will make an enormous difference in the health of the surrounding communities.

Only the Beginning

The SAAET Project has developed organically as NYF has responded to the pandemic—and we are enthusiastic about developing it further. This International Youth Day, we are so proud to be helping communities of young people pull their communities forward using new innovations and skills.

As Nepal’s economy heals from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts, young people in Nepal will need job preparedness training and career education more than ever.

To help us continue offering the SAAET Project and other vocational training programs, please donate today, and share our message on social media!

(For an even greater future impact, consider celebrating National Make a Will Month throughout August 2021 by joining our Legacy Circle!)