Welcome to SHEWD

Hello and welcome to the first post (of many, I hope) on the SHEWD blog.

Firstly, I'll quickly introduce myself. I'm Elsie (22 years old, from Scotland), and I'm the current SHEWD volunteer working in Thaiba, Nepal. For those of you that aren't totally clued up on our work, the Society for Health, Environment, and Women's Development (SHEWD), is a very small, grassroots Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working in the Lalitpur District of Nepal. I won't detail our history and different projects here, but instead direct you to such info on our website www.hipknit.com

I arrived in Thaiba in early March, and while I've been working here I've been very impressed by the aims and ideals of SHEWD, and of all the hard work done by Krishna (director) and previous volunteers. However, I am constantly struck and frustrated by our lack of progress which is due largely to lack of financial funds. I have thus created my plan for my 3 months with SHEWD, with the aim of raising awareness of our work and raising important financial support.

My three main aims for my time here are thus as follows.

1. Create an informative and easy to access volunteering brochure, offering potential volunteers a true insight into what SHEWD can offer them and the realities of such an experience. In doing this, I believe we can attract more volunteers which would allow SHEWD continually to expand.

2. Establish a Scottish charitable trust to support SHEWD's work. I have not yet decided on its name but maybe something like 'Friends of SHEWD'. I believe that this would really open up fundraising potential in Europe, and give a certain authenticity to SHEWD in the West. It will be a fantastic tool with which to raise awareness of our work.

3. I am also working to create a catalogue of our wide range of Hipknit products. Having been on the SHEWD end of various potential hipknit orders, I think it would be a lot easier for both interested buyers and for us, to have clearer information concerning our products, their production, and costs etc. Because the sale of our Hipknit products is a vital source of income for SHEWD, anything to increase sales will prove an important financial assest. Such a catalogue will also allow myself and future volunteers more easily to approach potential retailers once we are back in our home country.

I will be updating this blog several times a week in order to give interested readers a chance to understand our we operate as an organisation and the realities and often frustrations of working in a small NGO in Nepal.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on the blog or to email me personally at eblackshaw_320@hotmail.com