Put People On The Map Who Have Never Seen a Map

All girls school. Global Daughters.





The sweetest touch of life.


Dalit women and children. Dalits are "untouchables" in the Nepali caste system. People do not take water that they serve or interact with them socially or in schools. They are treated like animals.




School in the village. Crammed into a hut with two teachers. Schools are the most important resources in the community. The future.

We needed security going through the village. Rouge political parties campaign in the area and harass villagers for votes. They said under no circumstances we could take pix of them. Oops.




Married women in the village rarely come out of the house. If they do- they cover their face as not to be seen by people other than their husband.

They had never seen a Ritz cracker before; they were scared to death. (I am sure my white skin had nothing to do with it)

The village elders- leader is on the right. 95 years old. Respect.



Kids, kids, and more kids. Family planning does not exist in the far flung villages.



To preface this blog, we would like to say how blessed we are to be here doing what we are doing. There is no where else in the world Global Daughter would rather be.

In our recent visit to the Terai we took a couple days to observe the up-coming election campaigns. We followed along with a woman candidate in one of the 75 districts in the country. She is running against 19 men and she is the only woman. We wanted to be apart of her campaign as she campaigned for support in the far flung villages in her constituency.

We journeyed by jeep about one hour from a small highway town to visit three villages in the plains region of the district. These people have never seen foreigners and only see vehicles during election time when politicians come looking for votes. They mostly live in adobe huts and if they are lucky own at least one cow, buffalo, or goat. They marry their girls as early as 15 and some don't have schools or road access to get there. Their water source (usually a deep well) is deteriorating and their rivers are drying up. The most common cause of death is diarrhea- mostly from dirty water. Women are expected to have kids as soon as possible so they can collect dowries for their sons. Child labor is at every corner. We saw two year olds carrying water jugs on their head or firewood on their backs. Really. In this case it might not be considered labor- it is a survival activity. If this child can't collect water his family will suffer. It is a cycle that, from our observations, does not look to be changing in the near future. They live off the land- potatoes, rice, corn and mutton. Most families have only enough resources to eat once a day. Many children have descended bellies from malnutrition and they have symptoms of dehydration. Many children had skin disease on their face or arms and as they are barefeet all day, their feet are as dry and cracked as rocks. Women stay in the hut as they are not to be seen by others after marriage. Sanitation is exactly what you would think- non-existent. Children and adults will urinate and often defecate in the roads or in the bushes. Our eyes have never.

This was so much to take in at once. Never before had either of us seen such intense environments. It was like stepping into the National Geographic Channel. We were so honored to be there, but at the same time, it was painful to see the conditions of life in such a beautiful place with such beautiful people. We were greeted with smiles and namastes as we walked along. People were laughing and staring and the two white women, one with bright blue eyes and one with white hair. A few children touched our skin and ran away just to see if we were real. The women and children were stunningly beautiful and the simplicity of life was both jarring and authentic.

The hardest part about going there, was having to leave. We might not ever go back to these places and we might not ever be able to help these people. We came in so fast, snapped photos, played with the kids, and then we disappeared. Part of it felt wrong and self-serving. We don't want to be those foreign people that came in a big Jeep- the outsiders who pretended to care. But, what we can do is share what we saw with you, in this blog. Because we do care. We want to put these people on the map. We want the images to be as real as the feelings we both felt walking with these people.

We both had these amazing feelings of interconnectedness. Although we have never known poverty and we are from a country so far away, we are responsible for the future generations of the world. As Jeffrey Sachs says, "The end of poverty will require a global network of co-operation among people who have never met." We are not here to preach- but what we have seen will change our lives personally and professionally forever. We hope our experience inspires the courage in you to be a part of that global network of cooperation- in whatever form that may be.