(Theit Theit Shwee sewing face masks made by cloth [photo from CEDAR’s partner])
“Kacha…Kacha…” Theit Theit Shwee, a woman from the slum area of Myanmar, sat in front of a sewing machine and sewed the fabric. She carefully wrapped the two white bands and sewed them with the fabric and finished making a three-layer cloth mask. This has been her daily job, making cloth masks with other women in the community center of CEDAR’s partner.
Living in a Hindu country with the caste system, the women of Nepal were traditionally being oppressed. They had a far lower chance to receive education and employment than men. In the worst case, some women in the countryside had to gain permission from their husbands and in-laws for things as trivial as leaving the house, hence they were mostly bound to the kitchens and farms.
If you put sheets of raw materials into grinders, weigh them and put them into molds, so on with a total of 22 steps, you would have produced the pads necessary for every woman during her menstrual period. Pushpa was able to learn these steps and sustain her family by selling self-made pads with the help of the Lydia Center in New Delhi, India.
Thanks to many churches in Hong Kong, our long time supporters, and participants of Barefoot Walk that because of your generous donations, CEDAR and our partners can provide timely relief to over 3,900 affected households in Nepal after the April massive earthquake. These are what were provided:
The Nepalese culture is strongly influenced by male superiority and caste system values. Local women, especially those in rural districts, are rarely involved in social events or decision making processes. Not only are they unable to express their views, they are also unfairly treated and bounded by various social restrictions.
[ePrayer – Pray for the women empowerment project in Nepal]
Since 2011, CEDAR has been supporting partner Share and Care Nepal to improve lives of rural women and girls through formation and empowerment of the women and girls self-help groups in Makawanpur. By partner’s effort, the women and girls are now a major part of social actions and eagerly engaged in social activities like making of toilets, advocating for citizenship and promotion of girl education. Through encouragement & facilitation of local team, the boys began to support social activities and helping the community people. Nepal’s new government has been formed but was not able to announce of the election of constitution assembly as more than half of the political parties are against the new government.
Pray for the women empowerment project in Nepal:
Give thanks that good progress has been made in the programme, and both girls and boys now participate in social actions ;
Pray for programme schedule and activities which are affected by the strikes and demonstration, raise in price of fuel, transportation, commodities and lengthy power cut ;
Pray also for third year programme planning and its implementation.
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institutions and trusts of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details. [2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts. [3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
