Maiti Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
http://friendsofmaitinepal.org
Maiti Nepal was established in 1993 by a concerned group of Nepalese, to combat the trafficking of girls and women, to rescue and rehabilitate victims, and to fight for the welfare of women and children in Nepal. Maiti Nepal aims to help girls and women who have nowhere else to turn: girl children from the streets, abandoned children, and destitute women. Maiti Nepal runs a rehabilitation Centre/shelter in Kathmandu, currently home to 300 women and children. The goal of the Centre is not always to send the girl back home to her guardians, who may be the very people who actually abandoned her or did not interfere when their daughter was trafficked. Instead, if it isappropriate, Maiti Nepal provides the girls with a safe place to live and get an education. The girls attend a nearby school and return each night to a nurturing environment, where the emphasis is on improving their health and education.
Older girls, who are either victims of trafficking or domestic violence, or living with HIV/AIDS - for whom school is not a viable option - participate in Maiti Nepal’s Income Generating and Non-Formal Education Programs. Students enrolled in the training classes learn how to make children’s clothes, toys, handicrafts, and fabric painting. Those who intend to earn money are provided with a loan to establish their own business. Thus far, the micro-loan fund has helped finance more than fifty small street shops, known as Nanglo Pasal.
Maiti Nepal has also established Transit Homes to prevent girls and women trafficking. A border surveillance campaign has been started to identify pimps attempting to traffic girls and women before they manage to enter India. Many trafficked girls and women return to Nepal through the Transit Homes situated at the border points.
These Transit Homes intercept girls and women who are being trafficked at the border, and return them home with the assistance of the local police administration, businessmen, industrialists, political party workers, representatives of local organizations, and local conscientious citizens. They also apprehend pimps involved in girls and women trafficking and hand them over to the Police.
Maiti Nepal produces a large variety of purses, hand-beaded jewelry, and home décor items such as table runners and placemats made in Dhaka fabric.
