Last Sunday we traveled from Kathmandu to Hetauda, where I will be living for the remainder of my time Nepal. Upon arriving at the safe home I was greeted with a warm welcome. The Safe Home family was eagerly awaiting on the steps with a prayer scarf in hand. Quickly I met the house parents, administrative team, and Dipa, the co-founder of WPC Nepal. I was overtaken by their joy and energy. After introductions and chiya (tea), a few of the older girls took me to our apartment to get settled.

When we walked up to this home pictured below, I thought they had to be teasing me, this place is a mansion! The homes in Hetauda are constructed so elaborately on the outside, built three to four floors strong with cement and wrought iron windows. They typically have columns, vegetable gardens, a puja for prayer, and roof top decks with chickens and goats running freely out front. Each one is so unique. Different from Kathmandu, there is room to garden and enjoy the outdoors. Inside the “apartment” contains the bare necessities – twin beds with thin mattresses, modest kitchen, a few bedrooms, and a tiled squat toilet.

After unpacking and wiping the sweat off my back, I made my way back over to the house to greet the children who had arrived home from school. Within minutes of returning I was helping with homework (i.e. re-teaching myself long division and mathematic story problem solving). Thank goodness Mr. Clark used to make me stay late in 4th grade to practice such topics! The younger children surprised me with their ability to speak English. I was peppered with all kinds of questions – “Where are you from?” Seattle. “Do you like speaking?” Sometimes. “Do you love Nepal?” Oh yea.

The first couple days I have spent up the laptops, providing basic training on new technology that I was able to provide with your generous donations. A big thank you to all of those who monetarily supported us! After sharing my love for One Note and box.com, I handed over the reins to Pratikala and Ram to start using their new systems.

The children have the week off of school, so today we took a break to take the kids to walk through the Hindu Teej festival, celebrating women, and to play in the park. At the festival, all the Hindi women dress in fancy red and green sari’s and fast and dance to bless their husbands or future husbands. Every women was immaculately dressed with their hair pinned and makeup painted on their faces and glitter brushed down their backs. The streets were filled with such vibrant colors. The WPC kids, dressed in the street clothes, stood out as foreigners, almost as much as I did being the only white person I’ve seen for days.

Despite the fast, we were able to find a vendor selling ice cream providing the perfect afternoon treat on a hot jungle-esque day. When offered ice cream from the vendor 11-year-old Yug Maya quickly replied in perfect English “If you can give me for free I will gladly help you eat, otherwise I have no money for you.” She’s so witty.

One afternoon I bonded with the older girls and boys through hand stands and kart wheels. There are a couple of acrobats at home! A few have since been able to master a head stand and we plan to tackle side crow next.

One thing that I have grown to appreciate the past few days is the spontaneity that is allowed with a relatively unplanned schedule. Every day since I have been here an exciting event has occurred out of the blue – something that would cause havoc to ones schedule in the states. On Monday we were told that we had to participate in a Children’s Day rally the next morning. Wednesday we had a surprise visit from Ram, the Chief District Officer of Makwanpur District (similar to our mayor). Tomorrow we shall see what happens…

I can’t believe the time finally came. Last weekend my sister came to help me pack up my belongings and run last minute errands before my trip. This included a full day bonanza and new Costco to find contacts after forgetting to pick mine up before the Dr. closed Friday… Oops.

When flying from Seattle to Dubai you apparently travel north, like over the north pole north. A friend informed me of this prior to departure so I spent the flight eagerly pacing the aisles until the time came where I was directly over the pole. Sadly all I could see was clouds. Until next time Mr. Claus.

Before leaving I printed off a bunch of pictures of my family, friends, and summer memories. How blessed did I feel seeing the number of wonderful people supporting me and experiencing life with me. It’s been a good summer Seattle – already excited for the next one and the next list of mountains to tackle.

Looking forward I feel at ease, excited about what the next 6 months will bring; the people, the culture, the change. As I’ve been warned by many, I’m keeping my expectations low and my eagerness to learn high. So whatever happens next will all be in the name of growth.

A friend gave me a departing gift of a Marie Claire magazine to read on the plane. After pouring over high fashion advertisements and hilariously uninspiring quotes by Miley Cyrus (although her IG is worthy of a jaw dropping browse) I came upon an article in the back exploiting a mining town in the North Dakota for its overly abundant population of trafficked women. The women’s highlighted beginnings were all different, but the message was clear. The United States is not victim-less. This article was part of a series they will be publishing if you feel inspired to learn more.

When I get to Katmandu I will be staying at a guest house for a few days in Thamel, the center of it all, which was sadly heavily impacted by the earthquake. My place it directly across from the Garden of Dreams. Sounds like a good place for a quiet meditation and read doesn’t it? If not, there is a yoga studio nearby so that will suffice. Ganga, the Program Manager of WPC Nepal, will be meeting me to go explore Katmandu and make a few Kurtas’ for my trip. Tunics and Aladdin Pants. Bring it on.

The time is approaching!  Over the past several months I have been eagerly waiting for September 8th to embark on my journey, the reason for initiating this blog.

In Nepal, they estimate nearly 15,000 women and children are trafficked annually to benefit varying needs of others.  The reasons vary from situation to situation, but in my research I have found it largely comes down to three main reasons – ignorance, desperation and the understated value of women.

Not all news is bad.  There are numerous global as well as local agencies working to educate and eliminate the commonality of this issue in Nepal.  One of those organizations is Friends of the Women’s Protection Center (WPC) located in Seattle.  WPC has developed partnerships with local organizations such as Hetauda House to  tackle trafficking using different approaches such as  education/awareness, alternative offering through vocational training and skill development, and emotional support and rehabilitation.

To support, I have three initiatives – refresh administrative IT, implement a file sharing tool to increase communications between US and Nepal, and most important revitalize their awareness program. Currently their awareness methodology is driven through community events and movies nights.  Although attendance tends to be high, WPC wants to take on a more proactive approach by delivering the message straight to high risk women and children.  The first part of this adaption will be to partner with primary schools throughout the Makwanpur District and eventually all of Nepal. My role will be to travel to these schools, advocate our mission, develop relationships with the principals, perform an impact analysis by collecting census like data, and ultimately develop a plan for program delivery throughout 2016.  In addition to the research aspect, I will be developing the program and hosting a number of pilot sessions.

With this blog, I hope to share a variety of my experiences and learnings as I learn more about this issue and the Nepalese culture.

More to come…

~ Jennifer