Who We Are

Meaningful Volunteer is a non-profit organization based in British Columbia, Canada. It was founded by an international volunteer who was disheartened by the volunteer tourism and exploitative development practices he witnessed in Africa and the Philippines. He formed Meaningful Volunteer with the goal of providing meaningful, non-exploitative volunteer opportunities to those who wish to learn from, share with, and offer services to underserved communities in some of the world’s poorest countries. Recognizing that international development is rooted in a neo-liberal agenda and is often an extension of neo-colonial privilege and power, Meaningful Volunteer is committed to subverting that paradigm by working in solidarity with communities who are suffering the most from the inequalities and disparities produced by the current global order.

Meaningful Volunteer places volunteers in rural development programs in Uganda, the Philippines, and Nepal. The programs focus on women’s empowerment, poverty reduction, and education. In Nepal, Meaningful Volunteer has partnered with the local NGO Women’s Skills Development Organization (WSDO) to add an educational component to the women’s economic empowerment work that WSDO has successfully been doing through fair trade handicrafts since 1975. WSDO has helped thousands of impoverished and often illiterate women in Nepal become economically self-sustaining.

What We Are Doing

Meaningful Volunteer is adding to WSDO’s existing programs by developing both a preschool for underserved families and a women’s center for the entire community. These programs will be housed in a new building being constructed next to WSDO’s branch office in Rithepani. The funding for the building construction is coming from School for Andy, a non-profit initiative established by the family of Andy Manley, a young many who died tragically in a house explosion in 2010 while pursuing his education degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Preschool

There are a number of reasons why a free preschool is needed in Rithepani.

·  For one, underserved families in the area often rely on dual incomes for basic survival, working long days in the agricultural fields or in other labor jobs. This means that preschool-aged children are left unsupervised in the absence of grandparents or other non-working family members, or have to join their parents at work.

·  Secondly, the costs of private education are often too burdensome for the families, so their children attend public schools. In Nepal, the quality of education offered by public schooling is significantly lower than that of the popular private school options, so poorer families are further disadvantaged by educational disparities. A preschool that emphasizes literacy education would give the children a head start, increasing their likelihood of success in primary education and helping to narrow the education gap.

Women’s Center

Gender inequality is a serious problem in Nepal, with the country ranking 123 out of 135 others on the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index in 2012. To promote the empowerment of women in Rithepani and in the surrounding villages, we will implement the following programs through our women’s center:

·  Nepalese and English literacy

·  Computer literacy

·  Women’s human rights

·  Women’s democratic participation and leadership

·  Women’s health

·  Domestic violence and sexual assault awareness

We’d like to equip the women’s education and resource center with a solar-powered computer lab. While many of us take the Internet for granted, most of the women in Rithepani have never done a Google search, read news online, or utilized social media. For women, the use of the Internet for networking, information gathering and sharing, accessing educational and career opportunities, and staying current on local and international affairs is an important tool for empowerment in a globalized world.

Our Campaign Goal

Our goal is to raise at least $2000 to equip the women’s center with a solar-powered computer lab. Nepal's electricity is notoriously unreliable, especially during the daytime when loadshedding makes electricity unavailable for 5-8 hours per day. The costs of the solar panels and installation will be around $2000, and the computers will cost another $1200. Annual Internet charges will total around $250 per year, and we will also need to equip the computer lab with desks and chairs. And, of course, there are always maintenance costs. Thus, while we’ve set the minimum goal at $2000, we do hope to raise enough to provide a fully operational computer lab.

What We’ll Give You

As a show of thanks for your contribution, WSDO has generously donated some of their beautiful, hand-woven products. Utilizing a weaving technique originating with the Gurung people of Nepal, WSDO has spent over 35 years coming up with attractive, functional designs for their high-quality fair trade products.

$15 – Shout out on our Meaningful Volunteer Nepal Facebook page

$25 – Personalized “thank you” photo message from Rithepani on our Meaningful Volunteer Nepal Facebook page and by e-mail

$50 – Choice of wallet or pencil case, and personalized “thank you” photo message from Rithepani

$75 – Small shoulder strap bag, and personalized “thank you” photo message from Rithepani

$100 – Choice of large shoulder strap bag or yoga mat bag, and personalized “thank you” photo message from Rithepani

$150 – Large tote bag, and personalized “thank you” photo message from Rithepani

$200 – Large duffle bag, and personalized “thank you” video message from Rithepani

$1000 – Mandala bed sheet set, choice of two other WSDO products, and name included in major donors list to be painted on wall of women’s center

*We will do our best to accommodate color and pattern requests.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you are unable to contribute financially, don’t sweat it. There are other equally as important ways to help!

·  Share this Indiegogo campaign with your networks.

·  “Like” our Facebook page to stay up-to-date on the project’s development.

·  Share our website or Facebook page through social media.

·  Promote WSDO’s products to local fair trade distributers and retailers.

·  Donate school supplies, children’s books, or used laptops.

·  Hold your own fundraiser! Contact us if you need ideas or assistance.

Volunteer With Us

Interested in offering your time and energy as a volunteer on this project? We’d love to hear from you! If you can commit to at least a month on-site, then visit our website for more details on volunteer opportunities in Nepal:

http://meaningfulvolunteer.org/program/rye/Nepal/rye.aspx?ProgramID=16

Contact Us

To reach us about this campaign, please contact:

heather@meaningfulvolunteer.org

Nepal mobile: (977) 981-6646792