be artsy NGO

What do we do?

We are developing projects of creativity with the aim of empowering local communities through art, with a special focus on women's issues. Since 2016 with The Rato Baltin Project: Sex Education, participatory photography and Menstrual Cups to empower women in west-Nepal.

Rato Baltin Project - Facing Chhaupadi in Nepal

The Rato Baltin Project is a Menstrual Health Management and sexual education program that aims to eradicate this practice. 2020 is our forth year working with community health workers, teachers, political leaders and local NGOs to this end. The Project is for girls, boys, women and their communities. We think that education is the only way to change these deeply held beliefs. With participative photography we invite them to speak about their menstruation, with an important part of the project being the distribution of a healthy and environmentally friendly solution: the menstrual cup.

Donate

Donate to the Rato Baltin Project

migranodearena.org

About Us

be artsy is a non-profit organisation developing creativity projects with the aim of providing different experiences and training oportunities to communities which would otherwise not be able to access them. We do not aim to only teach art just for the sake of art itself, but we also intend to provide communities with the tools to improve communication and effect the changes within they deem necessary. In a nutshell, we wish to empower local communities through art with a special emphasis on women. Hence, our current emphasis on the topic of menstruation and health care through the Rato Baltin project against Chhaupadi in Nepal.

Our Volunteers

We are an international, mixed-age group of volunteer people who believe in making the world a better place.

Clara Garcia i Ortés

Founder, CEO & Project Manager - Nepal

Alba Miquel i Tàpies

Founder, COO & Project Manager - Catalonia

Beatriz San Roman

Menstrual Therapist - Catalonia & Nepal

Rupa Pandey

Menstrual Cup Trainer & Rato Baltin Project Manager (Nepal - Headquarter)

Simran Adhikary

Program Officer (Nepal - Headquarter)

Raunika Khatri

Project Procurement Manager (Nepal - Headquarter)

Tejana Khanal

Achham Project Coordinator

Manisha Nath

Achham Project Coordinator

Josep V Marin

Web Editor & Collaborator - Catalonia

Clara Pinilla

Web Editor & Collaborator

Cristina Santa Quiteria

Communication - Catalonia & Nepal

Paola Casalino

Social Networks & Comunications - Catalonia

Shweta Manandhar

Communication Team, Nepali translations

Xesca Garcia

Founder & Exhibition Assistant

Salvador Subarroca

Founder & Brand Designer

Marisol Stevenson

Fundraising Collaborator in Canada

Ignasi Mieza

Founder & IT consultant

Gonçalo Brito

Media Manager & Video Producer

Chiara Giacomini

Creativity Photo Project Brand Designer

Kristy Davies

Project Assistance - Nepal

Testimonial

For the past 2 years we have been working with several organisations. Below are some of their opinions:

Federico Hurtado

Fundación Isla Maciel - Argentina

A few days after Clara’s visit to Isla Maciel - our neighbourhood - and reviewing what went on during her workshops, we can most definitely state that, besides being grateful, we are very satisfied with the excellent results obtained. Clara no doubt managed to connect to the girls and boys in the Isla and transmit basic photographic notions through highly playful activities thanks to her personal charm, which was extremely helpful when managing the groups. She also motivated them to get involved in the learning process, as well as allowed them to put into words, bodies, and images many of the issues they are interested in, they like, they worry about, and, in short, they experience on a daily basis. It has been a pleasure having had her amongst us.

Anna Brunet

Amics del Nepal

On July 2015 Clara contacted us to offer her creative photography workshops as a tool to develop imagination. Most schools in Nepal lack activities that foster teamwork, or encourage creativity and imagination. Therefore, her proposal was extremely interesting to us. Clara has offered workshops in most of the schools and foster care homes “Amics del Nepal” (Friends of Nepal) works with, and our youth and women groups have taken part in her activities. I had the pleasure to be present at some of her workshops and was in awe of her energy! I think her workshops are a great tool to awaken imagination and convey how everything has more than one point of view, that there is a need to be creative and find the ways to make what we want possible.

Jampa Sangpo (Head Teacher)

Srongtsen Bhrikuti Boarding School Kathmandu

Ms. Clara Garcia has volunteered in our school by teaching photography and creative arts during Setember/October 2015. She taught with full sincerity and dedication for our different levels of students. Our students took active part and exhibited much interest in her teachings. Apart from the photography and creative arts, she also taught the basics of webpage designing. We are very much thankful to Ms. Clara for voluntarily teaching our students and we wish her the best in her future activities. Thank you.

Would you like to help us to raise funds for our next project for girls in Nepal? If you wish, you can create your own challenge in some crowdfunding platform or Help us every month:

Latest news

Dec, 11

Don’t miss the exhibitions about Rato Baltin!

11/12/2019 by Josep V. Marin

Lately we have been talking about the exhibition in networks, we want to introduce you. The idea of mixing the photos that girls have been taking during the Rato Baltin project with photographs of creative women from here was by Magda Gavaldà. The exhibition, actually 2 different exhibitions and one installation, are mixed with […]
Read more Don’t miss the exhibitions about Rato Baltin!

Nov, 2

What would it feel like to be a girl growing up in Achham, Nepal?

02/11/2019 by Josep V. Marin

It has been many months now since I left Nepal. My life as a volunteer for the Rato Baltin Project seems far away because a lot has happened since I left Achham, but I can still feel how being a part of this project has changed me and my life. When I first started to […]
Read more What would it feel like to be a girl growing up in Achham, Nepal?
Aug, 21

Exploring myself (Nepali Volunteer Testimonial)

21/08/2019 by Josep V. Marin

Testimonial write in Nepali by Rupa Pandey, after the Nepali one you can read the English translation. Just like every other day, on January the 11th, 2019, I was checking my Facebook and suddenly a post drew my attention: that post was about the Rato Baltin Project, about the menstrual tradition “Chhaupadi”, which is still […]
Read more Exploring myself (Nepali Volunteer Testimonial)

Aug, 13

Putting the seed of the counterpower (Volunteer Testimonial)

13/08/2019 by Josep V. Marin

One day, in the Facebook of the university where I am studying a degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology, I read a note where it said that they were looking for anthropologist volunteers for a project in Nepal. This name, Nepal, caught my attention; a country that I really like, that I have visited seven times […]
Read more Putting the seed of the counterpower (Volunteer Testimonial)
Jul, 17

First part of the Rato Baltin 2019 project: general assessment

17/07/2019 by Josep V. Marin

Taking some days rest after coming back from Nepal, we let you know how did this first part of the Rato Baltin 2019 Project go. We had a risky bet, to cover as many villages as our financial resources may allow. From September 2018, we prepared everything for six municipalities, but after the trip we made in […]
Read more First part of the Rato Baltin 2019 project: general assessment

Jun, 3

Testimonial for MHDay –Menstrual Hygiene Day– Walk

03/06/2019 by Josep V. Marin

My name is Shruti, I live in Columbia, Missouri, United States. At my school we did not have free feminine products for school. So I worked with some administrators to provide free products district wide at the high schools in the bathrooms. It is a completely student-run initiative. Afterwards, while researching how others are impacted […]
Read more Testimonial for MHDay –Menstrual Hygiene Day– Walk
May, 8

Achham: Training for the trainers and mentors for the 2019 workshops

08/05/2019 by Josep V. Marin

We finally made our first trip to Achham. This year the team is huge. We are in Sanphebagar and we have 10 days of training for the trainers and mentors who will be providing workshops in schools in Achham this year. Our great 2019 team: · 5 foreign volunteers: Maisie, Anne, Claudia (nurse) Eleonora (anthropology student), and […]
Read more Achham: Training for the trainers and mentors for the 2019 workshops

Mar, 3

Trip to adapt the project to the conditions at the time we start the Rato Baltin 2019 execution

03/03/2019 by Josep V. Marin

We are really happy at this time when are writing this note for the web. two weeks ago we did a quick travel to Achham (8 days) to see the work done by the new trainers and how were the conditions to arrive and work in the new municipalities. To the ones that have not […]
Read more Trip to adapt the project to the conditions at the time we start the Rato Baltin 2019 execution
Feb, 6

Project Proposal for 2019

06/02/2019 by Josep V. Marin

In 2005 the Government of Nepal declared the practice of Chhaupadi illegal, and since 2018 has been considered a criminal offence with explicit consequences. However, there are places where belief in the tradition is stronger than that of the law. The risk of sexual exploitation through Chhaupadi in Western Nepal is still therefore present, but […]
Read more Project Proposal for 2019

Jan, 30

2018 Rato Baltin Project Financial Report

30/01/2019 by Josep V. Marin

We’ve come to an end of another year and it’s time to properly thank the people who have helped make it a memorable year. Our project began with the simple idea of providing basics to a woman during her menstrual period. In Nepal’s context, it is a topic that has long needed to be addressed, […]
Read more 2018 Rato Baltin Project Financial Report