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Dear Friends, On this International Women’s Day, the world is being called to inspire inclusion. For our marginalized, low income girls and young women in Nepal, this call could not be more meaningful. In Nepal’s patriarchal society, girls are too often unwanted. Daughters are expected to give up their education and bury their dreams. Educating boys takes preference because parents look to their sons to support them in old age.  Uma earned a degree in veterinary studies and is now studying for a BS in agriculture techniques. She was proud to help lead her women’s basketball and volleyball teams to first place wins in her school’s annual sports day. Coming of age seems to happen in a heartbeat for our sponsored girls. Navigating the difficult pathways to adulthood is a constant challenge. Wedding rituals are highly romanticized in Nepali culture. Daughters are routinely encouraged to leave school, marry by the time they’re fifteen, and have children soon after, as most of their mothers did. Little consideration is given to the dangerous outcomes these practices present for girls. Unfortunate choices during adolescence can easily end a girl’s chances of lifting herself from the relentless grip of her poverty. According to UN Women, when girls are educated, we see faster poverty reduction. Educated girls marry later and their children are healthier. Fewer die in childbirth. Educated women’s daughters have a greater chance of becoming educated themselves. Each additional year a girl spends in school can boost her earnings as an adult by up to 20%. Educated women contribute more significantly to their local economies. They’re more community-minded and politically active.  Pooja, with glasses and cap, is finishing her third year of medical school in Nepal. She’s grateful to Jack and Beth Isler for sponsoring her education. Pooja is inspired to study hard by her mother, Laxmi’s, grit, Jack’s 40-year career as an eye surgeon and her own experience managing a benign tumor behind her right eye. Pooja aspires to become an eye surgeon, serving the people of Nepal. Our aim is to turn the narrative around. To instill in our girls and their mothers a sense of self-determination, stability and voice. To encourage our girls to stay in school through high school and beyond. The immense potential of creating systemic change toward gender equality by educating girls is profound. Thanks to your unwavering support, our strategy is working. HIO graduates are changing the world. Nyima’s a respected physician in Kathmandu who’s now conducting TB screenings. She and Sanju, a banker, are valued HIO Nepal board members and Mamata's the Social Service Director. Manisha's the lead teacher at our Chandra Kala Learning Center. Reshma and Kabita are dentists, Bimala, Reena and Sonam are nurses, Sabita’s a microbiologist and Rabita’s a med-tech specialist in a Nepali hospital. Kanchan’s an engineer and Sarah’s a lawyer. Sukreema and Renuka have excellent jobs working in a medical data collection office and are considering going back to college to earn master degrees.  Binita was lovingly sponsored by Vivienne Verdon-Roe from age six through college. She studied hard, determined to use her education to change her family’s life. Binita now works full time as HIO-Nepal’s Finance Manager. These accomplished women serve as mentors and role models for their HIO sisters now in college. Sashmita and Sachina are in dental school, with Sashmita providing regular dental screenings for our girls and their mothers. Sujata and Apsara are in law school. Jyoti and Binita attend the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh. Sarala, Pabita and Smriti are in nursing school. Pooja and Ikshya are in medical school. Menuka, not college bound, will soon join a fashion design course. Priya’s studying hotel management. Susmita, Neera, Heena, Asmita, Deepa and Sabina are working towards business degrees, and Shreejana and Samjana, now working as valued staff members for HIO Nepal, are also enrolled in social work courses. The list goes on. We’re so proud of all that our HIO girl are accomplishing. Through hard work, determination, networking and grit, they’re achieving the unimaginable. Through access to education and inclusion in systems that inspire economic empowerment, they’re leading the way for a growing sisterhood of HIO graduates to reach for the stars. We couldn’t do this outstanding work without your generous support. With deep gratitude — Ricky and Laura Tara, mother of three HIO-sponsored girls, was among eight women in HIO’s Be Part of Her Dream women’s empowerment program who attended the World Social Forum in Kathmandu to learn about and promote human rights.  
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