“Adding life into their days while adding days into their lives.”
Vision
We conduct life skill programs for HIV infected mothers in order to educate them through practical life skills so that they can lead a socio economically independent life again.
How often
Four sessions of IG training are conducted each year, during which 56 women are supported in total (14 participants per session).
Concept
Each IG training lasts five days, during which women learn about:
–Female empowerment
–Their rights and responsibilities
–The concept of HIV and AIDS
–Female hygiene
–Gender equality
–Healthy nutrition
–Meditation and yoga
–Goat farming
At the end of the training each participant receives a seed money of Nrs. 10 000, which should help them to start or improve their business, with the intention that they themselves have to find out how to work in the most productive way by bringing in their own resources and as such gaining responsibility. Furthermore, each participant receives a fruit plant to show the importance of healthy food but also to teach them about the environment. Finally during the last day of the training, we conduct exposure visits with our participants and explore with them different parts of Kathmandu, such as the Pashupati Temple, which they normally don’t have the chance to see.
Methods
The training is very interactive and different methods are used so that our participants can learn in a fun but also in an effective way. As such the training includes group discussions, presentations, role–plays, games, meta cards, art, music and real life examples.
We always make sure to have the exact contact details of our beneficiaries, so that we can stay in contact with them in order to be updated about their current situation. Furthermore, we conduct field visits once a year, where we visit our former participants in their different districts. This gives us greater insights into their lives, according to which we can find out where improvement or support is needed. Finally it’s a great pleasure to see our participants again and see how they have incorporated the knowledge from the training into their lifestyle.
Testimony of a participant
“In village we all are bounded towards our responsibilities & work load so that we don’t have time to gather and share our feelings and emotions, but here we found the environment to express our sorrow and pain whilst still having a lot of fun. It was a memorable stay.”