Achieving self determination
Geeta* comes from a poor village in Nepal. Her family's dire economic situation
led to her being forced into a kamalari contract, an age-old Nepalese tradition
that forces young girls into hard labour in households away from their family.
Geeta was only 12, and for five years worked from sunrise to late in the evening
for an annual income of 700 Nepali rupees (about $US10).
Through Plan's kamalari abolition program, Geeta is not only free from the contract
that bound her, but was able to start her own business - a roadside cafe that employs
her whole family.
An initial investment by Plan to pay the first three months' rent and provide simple
chairs and tables has returned a great result for Geeta and her family. It is a
self-sustaining business with earnings so far of 32,000 rupees - roughly 46 times
her annual wage when she worked as a kamalari.
Geeta's success has inspired other kamalari girls to join the program.
You can help girls like Geeta achieve the most in life. Act now!
*Geeta's name has been changed
Cooking up change in Cambodia
Like so many girls living in rural poverty in Cambodia, Wattana was forced to leave
school in grade 6. She had to help support the nine people in her family, including
her widowed mother, so she tried to eke out a living by cutting wood for a pittance
in a nearby forest. Because Wattana was a girl, she was the poorest of the poor.
But Wattana knew she was capable of so much more. When a Plan volunteer in her village
told Wattana that a Plan partner in a large town in the region offered potentially
life-changing training in the restaurant and tourism trade, the young teenager became
very excited.
The course provided out of school young people like her, with hands-on training
in restaurant and housekeeping services, and included office and English skills
to help them get jobs in the Sala Bai tourist industry. It sounded exactly like
what Wattana wanted. She raced home to tell her mother about what she saw as an
incredible opportunity.
Unfortunately, Wattana's mother didn't see it the same way. The training involved
an intensive 12 - month course away from home, and she thought this was inappropriate,
given that Wattana is a girl. She thought her daughter should stay in the village
like the other kids, cutting wood and getting married and raising children.
But Wattana was not about to have her hopes dashed. She gathered more information
about the course and continued trying to persuade her mother. In the face of her
daughter's fierce determination, Wattana's mother eventually gave her permission
to sit the entrance examination. And Wattana passed! Armed with a scholarship to
study her favourite subject - cooking - Wattana left the village and went away by
herself to Sala Bai to study and better her life.
Today, aged seventeen, Wattana has achieved her dream of working in a restaurant.
She has become a different person now that she holds a job and her whole family
shares in her success.
Wattana sends money home that allows her younger siblings to attend school more
easily, including a brother who has continued to Junior High School, all thanks
to Wattana. She is proving that investing in girls is the key to reducing poverty.
Wattana's mother is immensely proud of her daughter, saying the family no longer
has to struggle to make ends meet. "I am very happy that Wattana has a job. It is
unbelievable that my family condition can change like this."
17-year old Wattana smiles a little shyly and says, "Yes, I am very proud of myself
that I was given opportunity to learn cooking skills and with it I can earn money
and support my family back in the village."
Wattana is the one. She is changing the world for herself and for those around her.
Because she is a girl.
We work to empower children and communities to overcome poverty. We are dedicated to child rights and actively involve children, their families and communities in all of our work. We have no religious or political agenda and work at the grass roots to transform the world for children.
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