Girls Get Educated in Nepal

Even public schools cost money in Nepal and producers often have to pull their children out of school because they can't afford the fees. Usually it is the girl children who are pulled out first because families will look to their long term care by their boy children. In an effort to encourage producers to keep their girls in school Ganesh Himal has given an annual contribution since 1990 to the Association for Craft Producers "Girl Child Education Fund". This producer benefit program was set up by ACP to provide a monthly scholarship allowance to producers who keep their daughters in school for at least four consecutive years. As the program has grown ACP has been able to give the same allowance to some of the producers boys as well.

This year ACP was able give scholarships to 85 children from ages 6-17 years old. In April they invited the students to come and see the workshop at ACP and participate in some of the craft activities that their mother's do such as blockprinting. The purpose of the program was to familiarize the children with ACP, its work and help them learn about Fair Trade. The children were given a tour of ACP and an explanation of the work they do. The three outstanding scholarship students also received a prize and special recognition from Meera Bhattarai, the Executive Director of ACP. Ganesh Himal Trading has been proud to help this girl child education fund prosper and be successful.