Empowering women
Menuka Thapa’s dream of becoming a singer might have actually helped her to be the woman she is today.
At 29, Thapa has come a long way: Established a non-profit organization, Raksha Nepal, for the protection of women, two women’s school with 300 students, a woman’s shelter, an orphanage, a cooperative, and a polyclinic. And though her struggles have been masked by her success today, she said it would not have had been possible if it were not for those hardships.
विकल्पको खोजीमा मसाजका महिला
कार्यालयको दैनिकी सुरु गरेकीमात्र के थिएँ, फोनको घन्टी बज्यो । हेलो ! दिदी म सानु बोलेको । 'हेर्नुस् न, हिजो बेलुका मसाजमा प्रहरीले छापा मारेर सयजना केटीलाई पक्राउ गरेछ, छुटाउन गइदिनुहोस् न है ।' उनले एकै श्वासमा यतिमात्र भन्न भ्याइन्, फोनको सम्पर्कविच्छेद भयो । तत्काल उनको नम्बरमा रिडायल गरेँ, स्विच अफ गरिएको छ भन्ने सन्देश आयो । सायद १४ घन्टे लोडसेडिङले मोबाइल चार्ज गर्न सकिनन् कि !
उनी तिनै सानु हुन्, जसलाई मसाजमा यौनजन्य क्रियाकलाप गरेको आरोपमा पक्राउ गरी १ वर्षअघि हनुमानढोका प्रहरीले आवश्यक संरक्षणका लागि भनेर रक्षा नेपालमा बुझाएको थियो । १० महिनासम्म संस्थाको सुरक्षित गृहमा बसेर सीपमूलक तालिम सफलतापूर्वक सम्पन्न गरी हाल आफ्नै जन्मथलो रामेछाप फर्किएकी छन् । उनी स्थानीय माविमा कक्षा ८ मा पढ्छिन्, संस्थाको वित्तीय सहयोगमा 'टेलरिङ सप' सञ्चालन गर्छिन् । आज सानु समाजमा आफूलाई सबल नारीको रूपमा उभ्याउन सक्षम भएकी छन् ।
Woman at Work
Where the mind id without fear
Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.
- Henry Longfellow
A New Life
Young women escape abuse and find a chance to start a fresh
IN THE DRIVING SEAT: Uma Khadka's husband poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. Despite the bandages in her hand, Uma is determined to learn driving and find a new life for herself.
Thamel’s Underside
Many people see Thamel, Kathmandu as a tourist haven, packed with handicraft and mountaineering shops, hotels and restaurants. What the tourists don’t see is the other side of Thamel—an estimated 200 massage parlors, many of which front for other services, and exploit girls who have no skills to make an honest wage. The people who frequent these massage parlors are not tourists; they are Nepalis from all walks of life.
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