Why Women?
Women suffer disadvantage and hardship in many cultures, especially in Nepal. Daya International shines light on our sisters’ plight. People from a lower caste have it worse. Stigmatized, ostracized and judged to be less than others, they are often assigned the hardest manual labor jobs.
Nepalis strongly disfavor girls, due to their gender. Such deeply entrenched cultural deference to gender is blatantly discriminatory, oppressive, and too often, abusive.
In the poor, rural areas of Nepal, women forever have been the workhorses of society, performing the lion’s share of hard manual labor jobs.
- Carrying bricks on their heads
- Hauling large bales of leaves to feed their animals
- Shoveling heavy dirt and rocks
Women rarely have the opportunity to break out of these centuries-old gender roles.
A poor family will choose to send a son to school first, over a daughter. Only 41.5% of girls can read, compared to 71.6% of boys. Despite a government push for families to also send their daughters to school, economic hardship makes progress slow for hundreds of thousands of families.
Acting as another financial deterrent, dowries are expected from families giving their daughters, often as young as 15, in prearranged marriages.
Many of the girls in these orphanages come from the far west region or from lower castes in Nepalese society.
Daya International is committed to making a difference by providing higher education opportunities for poor and orphaned girls who otherwise would not have any choice to advance in society.