Project Didi Australia
  • HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
    • Our Story
    • Our Board
    • Our Team
    • Our Partners
    • Contact Us
  • WHY WE EXIST
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Family Based Care
    • Education & Training
    • Your Impact
    • Our Reports & Policies
  • TAKE ACTION
    • Donate
    • Join Our Team
    • Attend an Event
    • Advocate to End Slavery
    • Travel to Nepal
    • Connect Your School with Nepal
  • Shop
  • NEWS

Thank you for supporting I AM BELMAYA!

6/7/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
We would like to thank all of you for supporting Project Didi and our partner Asha Nepal through the purchase of tickets for the screening of I AM BELMAYA.

We sold over 70 tickets and raised more than $1,600!

Belmaya and her daughter will also receive a portion of your contributions.

We hope you enjoyed the film produced by this inspiring young woman who was determined that her daughter would be able to ‘walk the right path’, through education. Her determination and resilience, along with the courage to challenge tradition and pursue the opportunities of filmmaking, has made her an amazing role model for other young women.

Here is what you thought of the film:
Picture

​"I loved, loved, loved the film! I was completely engrossed."

"It will inspire many women and girls to reach higher throughout the world."

"Wonderful film. Had me in tears but ended in such joy." 

"A powerful story of a brave young woman, taking charge of her life and future, despite the prejudice and limitations. Inspirational!"
If you missed Project Didi’s Q&A with Director Sue Carpenter, you can access the recording at the link below.
Watch the Q&A
0 Comments

A full & bright year: Our co-founder, Sarah, reflects on 2018

6/1/2019

1 Comment

 

A very Happy New Year to you!

When I started Project Didi, with Fiona and Leonie, 5 years ago I couldn’t have imagined that we would have as full and bright a year as 2018. I am proud of many highlights with the women and girls we support. I’d like to share some with you.
​

But first I’d like to say a sincere thank you. Please share in my pride, as we couldn’t have reached 2019 without you and your commitment to making the world a better place.

My year started with a wonderfully warm welcome from our partner at Samunnat Nepal. I had a week at this dynamic organisation of inspiring, talented and dedicated women. My lasting impression is of a vibrant community supporting survivors of violence and an entrepreneurial spirit that has created jewellery making, a tailoring shop, a childcare centre, organic gardening and pickle making. Incomes, independence and a future for many!
Picture
We believe education transforms women, their families and communities and creates generational change. It's our priority girls get a basic schooling, have the opportunity to catch up on missed schooling and have access to further training. My best memory this year, is when 5 women, survivors of violence, gained certificates in Food Handling and Hygiene, now proudly displayed on their kitchen walls. They are working together building their catering business and cooking classes, making small steps towards an income generating success story. The smiles as they work, and receive endless compliments on their dishes (the veg curry is a winner!), are part of that success.
Picture
Our Youth to Youth Program, our seventh, was again a highlight. 16 students from St Catherine's School Sydney, joined 25 students from our partner, Asha, in a week of peer-to-peer learning, fun and friendship. The program continued the theme of positive psychology which we all benefited from. The Nepali cooking was a success and the soccer game decisively won by team Nepal! I'm in awe of how the students, Australian and Nepali, own and manage this week and grow through new challenges, experiences and understanding. I believe it changes lives.
Picture
Since the closure, 2 years ago, of the residential home at Asha which provided care in an institutional setting (now widely documented as detrimental to children’s wellbeing), I'm proud our priority has been family care. With your generous contributions to our recent crowdfunding, we are able to continue supporting our "family" of 6 girls and housemother, Binsa, into 2019. In addition to rent, education, counselling and health care, our support includes music and dance classes, sport and the celebration of birthdays and festivals, the important stuff of childhood and family life. The girls recently marked the holidays with their first exciting visit to a water park.

We’re committed to working with the girls’ biological families towards reintegration and we’re proud to say, after a long and sensitive process, one of Binsa's girls, Hasri, has successfully reintegrated with her biological mother.


In Australia, our wonderful community came together to learn more and speak out about trafficking, gender inequality and child rights. We held screenings of SOLD, which we have now taken across Australia, a panel event with modern slavery experts and our #SomethingForSlavery challenge. A special thank you to the volunteers whose energy and hard work made these events happen!
Picture
We were thrilled with the passing of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act. The Act makes Australia the first country to recognise orphanage trafficking as a form of modern slavery. Children, in Nepal who in many cases still have one or both parents, are recruited into and, in many cases, exploited in orphanages to attract volunteers and donors, many from Australia. This Act will raise awareness of the vital need for the type of family care for vulnerable children we provide and will bring us closer to ending slavery.
​

I am excited about the year ahead. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be in Nepal working with our partner on a new project. I’m also looking forward to getting to know the 15 ladies from Fernwood Gym Tuggeranong on our trek later in the Everest region. They will meet our partners, enjoy their cooking and learn about our work in Nepal.
On behalf of the Project Didi team, our partners and the women and girls in Nepal, a huge heartfelt thank you to the many of you who have been on this journey with us over the years and also to our many new and very valued supporters.
​We can't do it without you.
All the best for a happy, healthy and light filled 2019.
Sarah
Names of the women and girls in Nepal are changed to protect identities.  
1 Comment

    Archives

    February 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018

    Categories

    All
    Education
    Events
    Family Based Care
    Get Involved
    Modern Slavery
    Our Partners
    Our Team
    Stories From Nepal
    Travel To Nepal
    Youth Ambassador
    Youth To Youth Program

    RSS Feed



Project Didi Australia is committed to restoring hope, dignity and independence to women and girls in Nepal exposed to trafficking and abuse, through trauma-informed care, family strengthening and reintegration, education and pathways to employment.
Picture
ABN 68 320 267 277
Project Didi's Privacy Policy
Picture
Project Didi Australia is a partner for Project J1082N
Futures of Dignity and Opportunity with
​Global Development Group
(ABN 57 102 400 993).
For more information please visit GDG projects: www.gdg.org.au.


Weebly Disclaimer & Privacy Policy
  • HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
    • Our Story
    • Our Board
    • Our Team
    • Our Partners
    • Contact Us
  • WHY WE EXIST
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Family Based Care
    • Education & Training
    • Your Impact
    • Our Reports & Policies
  • TAKE ACTION
    • Donate
    • Join Our Team
    • Attend an Event
    • Advocate to End Slavery
    • Travel to Nepal
    • Connect Your School with Nepal
  • Shop
  • NEWS