I have now been in Nepal for four days. Having woken up that first morning feeling refreshed and bright, I began the ongoing process of getting to know this new place and the people in it.
I am here mainly to work with the organization Samrakshak Samuha Nepal, or SASANE, a name which translates to “Let’s protect ourselves”. Every year in Nepal anywhere from 5,000-10,000 girls and women become victims of human trafficking.
SASANE works both to rescue as many of these girls as it can while simultaneously running programs to reduce the risk of more girls getting trafficked or re-trafficked. Two of these programs, the Community Outreach Program and the School Awareness Program, are educational in nature. They work to increase literacy rates in rural villages as well as educate locals on issues of trafficking, violence, and legal rights so that individuals are less vulnerable to exploitation.
Two other programs, the Sisterhood of Survivors Program (SOS) and the Paralegal Program, provide outlets to survivors to keep them out of the cycle of violence and away from risks of re-trafficking. SOS trains girls in hospitality, and to be trekking and tour guides. Such treks are directed through rural mountain villages where trafficking is prevalent so as to increase commerce, thereby directly combating the root cause of human trafficking: extreme poverty. The Paralegal Program trains survivors to become certified paralegals, and places them in police stations across Nepal. They provide psychological and legal counseling to other survivors, as well as assist in court proceedings.
As a volunteer with SASANE my duties vary, from teaching English to paralegals-in-training, helping to write grants and restructure websites, teaching first-aid, and taking on some paralegal work of my own.
On my first day of work Shanti and Laxmi walked me to the office. On our way we stopped at a tiny store front, too small even to go inside. Shanti leaned in through the open window and pointed at a single unsharpened purple pencil. The vendor snapped it in half and manually sharpened both pieces. Shanti handed me half and kept the other for herself. Now we have two sharp purple pencils.
My favorite time of day is 12:30-2:30 pm. This is when I teach English to a group of 30 girls so that they may one day become paralegals. They range in age from 16 to 24, all survivors of sex trafficking. They are sweet, and eager to learn, and call me Miss Emmy. They always have milk coffee ready for me when I arrive.
Prepositional phrases. Direct and indirect objects. Subject-verb agreement. The future tense.
But we also love to play games. Their favorite is one I taught them, my personal favorite as well, called The Story Game.
One person starts the story (Once upon a time…), then the next person picks up where the last left off, and the story inevitably grows crazier and crazier with each new addition. We play this at the end of every class.
After class I go upstairs to work on other projects, or walk 40 minutes to Thamel for a mango smoothie, or sometimes, if it’s late in the week and I’ve completed most of my work, I make a destination trip: The Garden of Dreams, Pashupatinath Temple, Boudhanath Stupa. Sometimes, if it’s late in the week and I’m exhausted, I go home and sleep.
Saturdays are holy days, so I have work off. Saturdays are for adventures: treks, day trips outside the city, exploring an ancient village.
But no matter what the new day holds, no matter how one is different from the next, I always have the sisters. They are there to show me how to make momo in the evenings, to hold my hand when we make the terrifying dash across busy streets, to teach me om mani padme as we stare into the transcendent eyes of the stupa. I am never lonely.
I am learning that community is like the long-awaited rain that falls during the monsoon season. Something you count on, necessary for growth, craved if it dries up.
