EMPOWERING FORMER CHILD SLAVES
We launched our Indentured Daughters Programme in 2000 with an ambitious goal: to end the practice of Kamalari, the system in which girls from desperately poor families were sold into domestic slavery.
Importantly, our advocacy work helped persuade the government to officially affirm the abolition of Kamalari and allocate millions of dollars to educate girls who were victims of the system.
Nepal Youth Foundation’s Empowering Freed Kamalaris programme (EFK) now helps former Kamalari girls become healthy, happy and independent young women. The programme stimulates the cultural and economic development necessary to ensure that no girl will ever again become a victim of this form of slavery. We do this by providing the girls with vocational training and helping them to start their own businesses and helping the women to establish their own co-operatives.
The women also receive the specialised services of other Nepal Youth Foundation programmes, including vocational education and career counselling (VECC) and psychological support and peer counselling (at our counselling center).
VIDEO —
The accomplishments of these young women are impressive. Watch this short 2 minute film to understand some of their stories (film created by Wrapt Films):
- These former child slaved have now created the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF)
- FKDF has created 42 business Co-ops with more than 8,672 members
- 1,425 women have launched their own businesses with co-op start-up funds
- The capital of all the Co-ops is now close to £250,000 – all starting from a £50,000 loan from Nepal Youth Foundation.
- 82% of vocational graduates are employed
- 150 women have been trained as FKDF Peer Counsellors
- Peer counsellors have provided counselling and psychological support to 4,000 former child slaves.
DONATE —
EMPOWER A FREED KAMALARI
The Kamalaris endured endless hardship as children. Your support provides the services they require to heal from the trauma and lead healthy, productive lives. Even just £10 will buy goods to start a new business.
CASE STUDY —
Dil Kumari was sold by her parents when she was just nine years old. Before this happened she attended her local school, but life wasn’t easy. Her family had nothing and they could not feed themselves. She was sold during the Maghi festival. Her parents were promised around $40 a year for her services; they didn’t always receive this.
Life was exceptionally tough for Dil Kumari: she worked from 6am until nearly 11pm every day, seven days a week. Occasionally she was allowed to return home briefly for Maghi. She had no fresh food ‘I was only allowed to eat the scraps like the dogs’ she says. The Landlord (master) made her go and fetch alcohol late at night and made her massage him. She was abused verbally and physically on a daily basis.
She was freed by NYF after six years of her own living hell. She went back to her village and restarted her education at Grade 7. She is now in her final year of a University degree course in Commerce Management.
She was also inspired set up a Vocational Training Centre in Nepalgunj to help other FKs which has been running for 2 years. She is currently Vice President of the Freed Kamalari Development Forum (FKDF). This is a pressure group founded by the Freed Kamalaris with the support of NYF. It has successfully lobbied the Nepali Government to sign a 10-point plan for the social and economical empowerment of these former indentured girls. The FKDF need to continue to lobby the government to ensure it keeps to its side of the agreement, especially where money is involved. The girls check to see if school fees and bursaries are being paid – they have even asked for additional money for students in certain areas and received the uplift!
‘What we are today is solely due to NYF. They gave us the tools to rebuild our own lives. They were there every step of the way supporting us on our journey to empowerment’
