The WORTH Spirit: Nepal

"I am just back from 10 days in Nepal finalizing the planning for a major research effort to find out just what WORTH groups are doing 5 1/2 years after the formal Women's Empowerment Program ended. 

I have been blown away by the stories that I heard while there - stories about WORTH women standing up to police and insurgents alike to defend and protect their group members and their families, women who through their groups have brought community centers, day care facilities, dam projects and phone companies to their villages, women who have responded to the requests of other women to help them start WORTH groups. 

While I felt the pessimism that seems to pervade so many quarters of Nepal in so far as political prospects are concerned, there was none of that when people talked about the WORTH groups in their communities.  The fact that WORTH groups have become the foundation for many other programs in Nepal, programs in a variety of sectors, is a huge testament to the capacity of WORTH women to become pillars in the development of their families and communities. 

Truly, truly there is no stopping WORTH women - economically, politically, socially - once they have had a chance to experience the success and empowerment that WORTH unleashes."

~Marcia Odell
Director, WORTH

For more information about WORTH, please visit our website at: http://www.worthwomen.org