In a town called Toshi, located in the Sudurpaschim province of Nepal (far-west) we meet Hiunkala Chalaune. Hiunkala lives with her father, mother, brother and sister and has been working as a trainer in the Rato Baltin project for more than a year.
Before participating in the project, Hiunkala felt that she used to wish for things that would never come true and had the feeling that she did not understand many things. Her maturity began with her first period. She wondered what menstruation was and asked her mother why they couldn’t stay inside the house during menstruation. Her mother replied that it was the tradition that they followed since the day of their ancestors and could not be changed. Hiunkala suffered a lot every time she had to comply with the tradition, and she wondered if she could change people’s minds. At the time, she was not feeling very strong emotionally, and speaking in public or participating in a discussion was very uncomfortable for her.
This all changed when she joined the project. Hiunkala is more secure now and shares her knowledge about the work they do, and other issues with her parents and in front of any person or group of people regardless of their hierarchical position in society without losing confidence in herself. One of the challenges she had to overcome by January 2019 was to give talks in schools and to politicians, and register everything. Her work was impeccable.
When Clara (CEO of be artsy) met her in September 2018, she thought it would be very difficult to help her overcome her shyness, but in less than a year her shyness disappeared and now she is undoubtedly one of the best trainers.
By Carmen Alcañiz. Corrections by Sophie Watson, photos by Eleonora Bordogni and Clara GO.
We need your help, please. Make your donation to the Rato Baltin and Edufem projects today.
Teaming (1 euro/month)
RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject
Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate
Donorbox:
–https://donorbox.org/againts-chhaupadi
–https://donorbox.org/edufem
Covid19🦠 https://donorbox.org/mask-4-health-nepal
Thank you!