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My two months stay in Nepal

My two months stay in Nepal was postponed twice because of Covid. I really wanted to go in March 2022. And also do a trekking during my stay. And I knew: I will be in Pokhara so the 3 Sisters are going to be my partner in this. I went to Poon Hill with a female guide of 3 Sisters about 25 years ago. Their mission is great and I want to support them in their mission to empower marginalised women and give them a future in the trekking business. 

During my search on their website I learned - to my surprise - that the 3 Sisters also had an NGO, Empowering Women of Nepal! How wonderful, because I was also going to Nepal to support a Dutch NGO, 6 Degrees Network for Women. It matched perfectly. So, I contacted Lucky to discuss a possible volunteering job, which was a bit premature, because Covid was still around.

But… after arriving in April, I met Lucky and Samjhana from EWN. What a lovely people, it immediately felt familiar. We discussed how I could contribute and that is how we came up with several workshops in my working field ‘communication’. Because of the pandemic most (assistant) guides where out of work or found other jobs, but Samjhana invited them all to come to the workshops.

It was really a great pleasure to do, but also an eye opener. My first workshop was about storytelling. And there were really good stories to tell. Guides who were forced to marry at a very young age, got children and were abused and mistreated. But got out of their situation and were taken under the care of the 3 Sisters. Got a training and were coached. And now… they are confident, independent and happy young women.

My guides during the trekking to Mardi Himal were Tila and Rupa. Really great ladies. Tila is an experienced guide with great humour. Rupa is an assistant guide, who is still in training. Tila was a great example for her. How great it is to see these results! I had a beautiful time with them.

Lucky, Dicky and Nicky: dhanyabath. 

Tila and Rupa: dhanyabath.

I hope that next season (fall 2022) will be a good season and that tourist will come back to Nepal. The Nepali people and the female trekkers deserve it. I will definitely see you all next time (soon I hope)!

 

Tara (Laetitia Gruwel, the Netherlands)