Tag: Women

Rato Baltin Project. Update!
In the Rato Baltin project, we keep working hard. This year, we’ve been tight on resources, but we’ve been able to follow up with the girls who received menstrual cups last year, with great results.

We are now in our sixth municipality, Binayak, in Achham, one of the most populated areas! Ruby Cup has donated 1,000 colorful menstrual cups, which will surely surprise our trainers, like Kamala, who leads the project, and Manisha and Rohina, who have been with us since 2019.

We need more support to continue working in the villages of this new municipality.

Will you join us as a be a be artsy collaborator? If you already are, please forward this new to a friend that maybe could be interested!

Our main Trainers during 2024

Women group last week in Binayak

New Ruby cup users, super happy with her new cup and menstrual health kit!

Would you like to become a beartsy member? Remember, if you are in Spain, that donations are tax deductible: up to 80% of the first 250 euros!

P.S. You can find our project evaluations and reports on the transparency page of our website.
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Text by Clara Garcia i Ortés
Photos by ©be artsy
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We need your help, please

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

Rato Baltin: https://donorbox.org/against-chhaupadi

If you want to contribute (only Spain) via Bizum: 01177.

But please email us to info@beartsy.org con with your details, to deduct it in your Income Tax!
If you prefer to contribute by regular bank transfer (but again email us with your details for the deduction!):
be artsy Association: Banco Sabadell – IBAN: ES23 0081 0900 8200 0430 1934 – BIC: BSABESBB

-Associate:

https://beartsy.org/associate/

-Donate:

https://beartsy.org/donate/

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject

Thanks!
10/10/2024
The ACCD grants a subsidy of 19,165 euros to boost communication and attract new members.

We are pleased to announce that the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD) has granted us a subsidy of 19,165 euros to strengthen our communication strategies and attract new members. This aid represents a significant step towards ensuring the continuity and growth of our project, particularly within the Rato Baltin program in Nepal.

With these funds, we have decided to hire a person dedicated to searching for grants that will allow us to increase the necessary resources for the development of our activities. This new addition will be key in seeking funding, managing human resources, strategic planning, and building relationships with donors and collaborators. The main objective is to ensure the sustainability of the project and make sure that the impact of our work reaches more and more people.

Additionally, we will allocate part of the subsidy to the implementation of a communication plan led by professionals, with the aim of increasing the visibility of the Rato Baltin project and expanding our network of partners and collaborators. Through dissemination and awareness strategies, we want to bring our mission closer to a broader audience and foster a community committed to our cause.

We deeply appreciate the support of the ACCD and all the people and entities who support us daily. We will continue to work with effort and dedication to make the Rato Baltin project an increasingly strong and sustainable initiative.

13/07/2024
We evaluate the impact of the Rato Baltin project in 2022
We have updated our Transparency page on our website to share the results with donors, associates, and partners.
As you know, our project fights against chhaupadi and promotes reproductive health, menstrual hygiene, and education in areas of Nepal where extreme taboos affecting girls and women persist.

According to the evaluation, the project achieved significant results last year, and we directly benefited over 19,000 individuals through workshops on menstrual health, sexual education, and the distribution of menstrual kits and cups. We have also undertaken other initiatives to increase the visibility of the project.

The objectives of the Rato Baltin project are to educate about reproductive health, menstrual management, and sexual education. On top of that, we introduced the use of menstrual cups in different social spheres, and reduce the school absenteeism of girls in selected remote communities in western Nepal.

We also focus on ensuring menstrual dignity and long-term program sustainability.

Throughout 2022, various activities were carried out to achieve these objectives.

We provided menstrual health and sexual education training for boys and girls, focused on the use of menstrual cups in schools and for women under forty, with a 97.5% acceptance rate.

We provided training on menopause for women’s groups in villages and conducted awareness sessions on hygiene and protection against Covid-19.

Furthermore, we, as well, collected data from menstrual cup users and carried out other actions such as training on sunflower and banana cultivation, as well as soap and incense production. You can read the evaluation.

The results obtained drive the Rato Baltin project towards its goals, ensuring menstrual health and dignity for women in Nepal. Thanks to associates, partners and donors!!

You can be part of our projects, if you want!
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By Clara Garcia i Ortés
Photos by ©be artsy
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We need your help, please

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

Rato Baltin: https://donorbox.org/against-chhaupadi

If you want to contribute (only Spain) via Bizum:

01177. But please email us to info@beartsy.org con with your details, to deduct it in your Income Tax!
If you prefer to contribute by regular bank transfer (but again email us with your details for the deduction!):
be artsy Association: Banco Sabadell – IBAN: ES23 0081 0900 8200 0430 1934 – BIC: BSABESBB

-Associate:

https://beartsy.org/associate/

-Donate:

https://beartsy.org/donate/

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject

Thanks!
25/05/2023
be artsy: This 2023 we advance at full steam!
We are very happy to share the last news on our organization! Thanks to the contributions of our members, of donors… the girls were able to finish successfully, during these first two months of the 2023, their Rato Baltin training, by now in two different schools within the municipality of Turmakhand.

In case you don’t actually know us, we started with a very specific purpose: fighting to eradicate the extreme violence that entails the practice of the Chhaupadi, a Hindu superstition deeply rooted in the country, for girls and women in Nepal, by supplying tools, resources, information and training..

Some of you are already aware that the Rato Baltin training is a very complete program on menstrual health and empowerment for women, focused on helping young women to enjoy a better menstrual health and, at the same time, increase their confidence and self-esteem. With this training, girls and boys learn about female and male anatomy, menstrual hygiene, the use of the menstrual cups, and much more.

We are very happy to say that, especially thanks to the support of particulars, and some contribution of other NGOs, we can explain that with that support (which we still need), we have been able to do a follow-up of the users of the menstrual cups from last year, and we have received many positive comments on the impact that the menstrual cups have had in the life of these girls and women. The menstrual cups are a sustainable and affordable alternative to the conventional menstrual hygiene products, and we could continue supplying those to the women in these remote areas of Nepal.

Also, more news: we shall soon start a new school in a new municipality: Chaurpati! We try to expand our scope in order to reach more women in the area! We want to continue supplying relevant education and resources to the young women in this community. If you have any question, or you wish to have more information about our work, do not hesitate in contacting us.
So, if you want, you can continue helping us, we need as much support as possible to go ahead.
Just make a one-off donation. Become a member! Or a donor!
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By Clara Garcia i Ortés, Josep Marín
Translation: Tere Salinero. Photos de be artsy
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We need your help, please

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

Rato Baltin: https://donorbox.org/against-chhaupadi

If you want to contribute (only Spain) via Bizum:

01177. But please email us to info@beartsy.org con with your details, to deduct it in your Income Tax!
If you prefer to contribute by regular bank transfer (but again email us with your details for the deduction!):
be artsy Association: Banco Sabadell – IBAN: ES23 0081 0900 8200 0430 1934 – BIC: BSABESBB

-Associate:

https://beartsy.org/associate/

-Donate:

https://beartsy.org/donate/

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

Thanks!
31/03/2023
Emergency: maintenance – subsistence of the project ‘Rato Baltin’ in Nepal

We work against the extreme discrimination suffered by many girls and women in Nepal. We can talk about extreme violence, too. We also educate their communities, also boys and men. Our projects – with Rato Baltin, as the principal – has its continuity in danger. We need you to continue.

We have educated, protected and feed more than 43,000 people – most of them women and girls – since 2017. We have been educating and empowering women and girls in Nepal for more than 6 years. Will you help us continue? That is why we launched this urgent need for help to be able to continue with the project. We share the link to Migranodearena -crowdfunding, from €5 to…- that we need to be able to continue with the project.

Please help us to ensure the continuity of the project in Nepal from January 2023.

With your support, the project will not have to close and the network and the work done in these almost 7 years will not be lost.

Please donate now and continue to help women in remote western Nepal. Thank you very much!

We need your help, please

-Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate /

-Donate: – https://beartsy.org/donate/

-Migranodearena Foundation

RatoBaltin: https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/emergencia-mantenimiento-proyecto-rato-baltin-en-nepal-

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

RatoBaltin: https://donorbox.org/against-chhaupadi

Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://donorbox.org/edufem

Thanks!

18/11/2022
News about our staff: Kamala Bhandari, mentor and new Achham Team Manager

We spoke with Kamala, one of the first girls to attend our workshops in Mangalsen. Namaste, Kamala. After some time in which, for organizational reasons, we did not update our website with new reports and news, we love to resume the news section with this interview. Kamala is a mentor, and the new Achham Team Manager.

Kamala, can you tell me a little about your life?

Namaste, my name is Kamala Bhandari, I live in Mangalsen Municipality 6, Tesinge. There are 6 people in the family. I am working in the Rato Baltin Project because since my childhood I have wanted to eradicate the misconducts and superstitions of the society.

Kamala, what was your life like before participating in the Rato Baltin Project?

Before working in the project, I didn’t know anything about menstrual health management, I had never spoken about it in front of anyone, and I was unaware about the outside environment, other than my own.

What was your emotional state before starting the Project?

Before starting the project, my emotional state was very weak, I was ignorant, I didn’t know anything about menstrual health management since I participate in some training related to that.

Kamala, now that you are part of the Project, what is your life like? Has your gaze changed towards your future?

My life has changed a lot since I am part of the project. This project has been able to bring lots of changes in me and in my community. Yes, my gaze has changed towards my future, before I knew nothing about life, and now I have more knowledge. I can work on this project and change my society, the village and my future.

And now we ask Clara, co-founder and director of the Project: What surprised you the most about Kamala since she joined the Project?

Although Kamala appears in the image we used to present the 2019 project, from the first row of girls, I knew well only Manisha. I met Kamala during the ToT (we name like this some activities of the project) and especially the day we told the mentors who were training, if any of them wanted to continue studying and their family could not afford it, and they had already told them that they could not do it, they should contact us. We will study their cases. He came to ask for the scholarship, crying. Since she started in the Turmakhand group she has grown as an independent person. She went from being an insecure girl, to being a girl who filled the room with her presence. Kamala is fun, sensitive, hard-working and full of love and respect for others.

Kamala is the second girl, left. The one picture in our flyers.

©eleonora bordogni.

We can see positive changes.

Mentor Kamala and trainer, teaching about changes in puberty.

Kamala, photography mentor- ©eleonora bordogni.

We need your help, please

-Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate /

-Donate: – https://beartsy.org/donate/

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

RatoBaltin: https://donorbox.org/against-chhaupadi

Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://donorbox.org/edufem

Thanks!

29/06/2022
Thanks to Rotary Club Barcelona Millennium, we were able to purchase necessary materials for the Rato Baltin Project
Contributions make a difference. The philanthropic organization Rotary Club Barcelona Millennium has given us resources – € 600 – to support our main project, Rato Baltin, and fight against Chhaupadi, a practice banned since some years by the government of Nepal. But it still persists in the country, especially in rural and remote areas such as the west, in the Achham district. All funds go toward our efforts to secure the basic rights of girls and women in western Nepal, where we have been working since 2017 on the ground to eliminate the inhumane practice of Chhhaupadi that is subjected to women when they have their periods.

We have more and better materials for the menstrual and sexual education workshops for girls, women, and training in the use of the menstrual cup now. A menstrual cup is a sustainable tool that helps girls and women feel clean and safe, as Chhaupadi, rooted in Nepal, causes them to believe that they are impure. We also do workshops for boys and men, as in order for the stigma to change, the entire community must better understand what menstruation is.

Here are some photographs that further show our gratitude to Rotary Club Barcelona Millennium for believing in the project and contributing. Thank you!
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Translation by Clara G.O. with annotations by Shruti Gautam
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We need your help, please.

-Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate /

–2021 crowdfunding: https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/fighting-chhaupadi-the-taboo-that-is-leading-to-the-deaths-of-young-girls-

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

RatoBaltin: https://donorbox.org/againts-chhaupadi

Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://donorbox.org/edufem

Thanks!
06/08/2021
The fight against the Covid-19, with our project Masks for Health, supported by Minyons Escoltes i Guies
For this year 2021, Minyons Escoltes i Guies de Catalunya, a youth educational organization in Catalonia, Spain, have decided to contribute the 1% of their own fundraising corresponding to the 2019/2020 course (€4,973.40) to two projects, both born to fight the impact of the Covid-19 pandemics. The entity issued a call for public tender in order to allocate the money to global justice projects created by associations and entities from outside their own organization.

Within the frame of this call, the jury has decided to divide that 1% between two projects, one of which is from be artsy. Thanks a lot, Minyons Escoltes i Guies de Catalunya! We have already spoken about this project to you: “Masks for Health 2021”. It is about doing reusable masks workshops in the Achham district, in West Nepal, where we mainly work, creating paid jobs for local women to facilitate their autonomy. It has also included giving out soap, and providing information plus raising awareness, helping thus the people in 17 villages to be more protected against the Covid-19.

The amount received has been €1,440, at it has been a great help! We congratulate from be artsy the other project, “Senders” (“Trails”), from the Tapís Association in the city of Vic, Catalonia: assistance with social and employment integration, with incentives, addressed to young people at risk of social exclusion, now aggravated due to the health emergency.

These types of collaborations do really make a difference! Thanks very much!
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Translation by Tere Salinero
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We need your help, please.

-Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate /

–2021 crowdfunding: https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/fighting-chhaupadi-the-taboo-that-is-leading-to-the-deaths-of-young-girls-

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

RatoBaltin: https://donorbox.org/againts-chhaupadi

Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://donorbox.org/edufem

Thanks!
22/07/2021
Collaboration Makes a Difference: MacEwan University
The experience related to the collaborative workshops developed with MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has been rewarding for each of us. Through the Riipen platform, we unite around our academic and practical interests in defending the rights of children and women in Nepal.

Nursing students from the Community Mental Health: High Priority Population class have contributed and continue supporting be artsy. We want to thank all those students, but especially Taylor Wilson and Hannah Wildeman for the crowdfunding implemented for be artsy which obtained CAD 500 (EUR 332.80) for the Rato Baltin Project. Likewise, we want to express our gratitude to Professor Rita Dhungel, in charge of the Social Work course at the same University, who, with her students, included the participation of be artsy in events for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, last November.

Therefore, apart from with the fundraising, the students have contributed to spreading the predicament of women related to extreme discrimination just because they are women and being considered unclean when they have their menstruation. In addition to reflecting on possible implementation solutions based on menstrual, sexual, health, and sustainability education. Plus free participation. Proposals that have gained recognition not only in Nepal but also in other countries, but on which we must continue working. In 2020, where we have all been affected in various ways, primarily about health issues, we started at the end of the year with the 2021 project, which has continued to advance with care but strong.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by be artsy NGO 🇳🇵 (@ngobeartsy)

Going back to the main issue, the MacEwan University has contributed in ways that, as happens with all positive actions, have been crucial. The students, with some computer graphics in both English and Nepali, have helped the project, apart from with the fundraising, by providing an outreach tool for girls and women as well as for the communities.
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Translation by Liliana Gonzalez and Tere Salinero
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We need your help, please.

-Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate /

–2021 crowdfunding: https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/fighting-chhaupadi-the-taboo-that-is-leading-to-the-deaths-of-young-girls-

-Teaming – 1 euro/month:

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

-Donorbox – Choose your own currency!

RatoBaltin: https://donorbox.org/againts-chhaupadi

Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://donorbox.org/edufem

Thanks!
01/07/2021
We still need collaboration to continue ahead with the EDUFEM 2021 project. Below the detail of what has happened during 2019 and 2020

According to UNICEF, Nepal has got the third-highest ratio of child marriage in Asia

Although child marriage is illegal in this country since 1963, this practice is very common in remote villages. The minimum legal age to be married is 20, but in these remote areas there is still a majority of teenagers getting married at between 15 and 19 years. The reasons for child marriages in Nepal are complex. Poverty, the low value granted to female offspring and the lack of access to education are factors that contribute, when at the same time the caste system and the patriarchal culture also play an important role. It seems that with each passing day more teenagers are able to choose their partners and can even run away. In some cases, fathers and mothers encourage their sons or daughters to initiate their own marriage in order to avoid the high costs related to the dowry or the wedding. They can also choose to run away, as the sexual expression outside wedlock is not acceptable, to avoid a forced or arranged marriage, or just to flee from the difficulties at home.

This is the report of the years 2019 and 2020 of a project that still needs a last effort to keep on going

Our objective is to find more sponsors that are ready to participate in the program, in order for us to offer more opportunities to girls and young women to continue with their studies. The more donors we have, the more opportunities we can give our students. University can be very expensive and even unaffordable, and the girls who are ready to keep on with their studies will need to cope with those expenses. The challenges we are facing in the implementation of the project 2020 were due to the Covid-19 pandemics. The girls took their school exams late, because in April, which is when in principle should have taken place, there was a strict confinement. Even in this exceptional situation and having confronted them later, the girls passed all their exams. However, some of them decided not to pursue B. A. degrees.

Can we succeed in them deciding by themselves, without feeling coerced by external factors?

-Associate: – https://beartsy.org/associate /

–Migranodearena: https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/fighting-chhaupadi-the-taboo-that-is-leading-to-the-deaths-of-young-girls-

-Teaming (1 euro/month):

RatoBaltin: https://www.teaming.net/ratobaltinproject
Edufem to prevent early marriage: https://www.teaming.net/edufemproject

-Donorbox:
https://donorbox.org/againts-chhaupadi
https://donorbox.org/edufem

Thanks!

16/05/2021

Thank you to WPML for supporting NGOs