Girls Empowered by Travel – Nepal

GET-Nepal is a non-profit organisation that provides safe travelling opportunities for underprivileged girls where they can learn about themselves and the world around them, as they build character and develop essential life skills. In Nepal, travel is less accessible to women for safety reasons and because of the strict cultural rules governing women’s freedom. GET- Nepal challenges this and works with communities to inspire girls to search for ways to make travel accessible, safe and affordable. Nepal has over 101 different ethnic groups with unique traditions, norms and values. GET-Nepal brings together mixed groups of girls from both rural and urban settings to get to know each other and help bridge the divide between rural and urban girls and women. During these trips, GET-Nepal organises workshops around themes that are relevant to the issues participants are facing. Topics include leadership training and community project management. Girls are also taught skills that will enable them to set up their own local networks and run their own community projects. One goal is to educate and support Nepali women to run homestays. This programme includes all aspects of running a homestay, including waste management, hygiene and sanitation, food handling, hospitality basics, and English language learning. GET-Nepal runs classes in menstruation and family planning and organises hikes and leadership bootcamps. Not only are girls’ lives transformed by their travel experiences, but the learning they acquire on their trips is transported back to their communities, creating a ripple effect. GET-Nepal believes that creating a network of connected women and girls will help improve their economic situations in a practical way while giving them a chance to have fun.