Bridges Between Org Inc

Education. We know it’s the key to breaking the barriers that keep women from reaching their full potential. The introduction of formal education, skills training and access to health initiatives, leads to increased income. This in turn leads to healthier families and opens doors to greater opportunities for present and future generations. We collaborate with local organizations to offer solutions that respect and embrace positive traditional customs. We are committed to a development model that is longstanding, inclusive and empowering for the communities we serve.

Supporting women’s education means that we collaborate with Nepali women and their families. We engage in exploratory, sharing workshops to seek out solutions that best fit their needs. Together we develop training and formal education programs that respect tradition and culture and are best suited to the already burdening work-load of local women.

Bridges Between recognizes the hardships women in Nepal face every single day. We strive to inspire confidence, courage and resilience through education and access to resources that will dramatically improve their quality of life.

We continue conversations with women across Nepal. We discuss the big issues; women’s empowerment and poverty. We also talk about their personal dreams for the future. Through these exchanges, we have identified four areas that will generate large scale, positive change in personal lives, families and communities at large:

1. Economic opportunity
2. Formal Education/Literacy
3. Wellness Education
4. Resource Sharing

Focusing in these areas will offer paths for women to lift themselves out of hardship, sustainably and independently. We know that education is the key to breaking the barriers that keep women from reaching their potential. Literacy, skills training and access to medical resources leads to increased family income and a path out of poverty.

The last ten years spent living with the women of Nepal has taught us to listen. Then act. We are immersed in their environment which gives us a unique perspective allowing us to implement appropriate solutions, closely monitor these four impact areas and build programs that really work.

We live in Nepal. We observe and ask the important questions necessary to solve these issues using an anthropological method of sustainable development. We create relationships with every woman and family who receive benefit from our charitable giving, scholarships and programming.

Our organization has an outstanding reputation for ethical development and successful outcomes. Our work has captured the attention of international organizations including the World Bank and United Nations who seek advice and assistance from our experts on the ground.

SHORT HISTORY/TIMELINE
2010 We began with literacy programs in rural, lower Solukhumbu. Abandon homes were converted into makeshift classrooms and local teachers hired to offer Nepali and English language classes. Within five years Bridges Between supported 4 classrooms where 30+ women studied, shared resources and exchanged cultural traditions.
2014 Saw our first cultural exchange program which continued annually until the pandemic lockdowns. Bridges Between donors come to Nepal to visit programs and participate in an educational exchange.
2015 After the devastating earthquakes we saw an urgent need to offer literacy services to displaced village women living in Kathmandu. We partnered with a well-established, local nonprofit to support teacher salaries at Shree Shradha Women’s School.
2019 We began offering courses to women holding a Batchelor’s degree who are seeking jobs skills in technology and design creating the Design Thinking program which serves a demographic of Nepal women who are completely overlooked by international organizations.
2020 During the pandemic lockdowns we switched gears to offer emergency supplies including food, water, cooking fuel and medicine. We collaborated with local government wards in to offer hot meals. We supplied cooking fuel and electricity to 7 Buddhist nuns who live in a remote, sheltered community.
2020 We forged an alliance with Bright Star Society, a local owned nonprofit serving people with disabilities. Our support increases their impact to women with disabilities or who are caring for those with disabilities.
2021 In the middle of the COVID crisis, we started an economic opportunity program in rural Lumbini. Skillful Means Art Cooperative is a program utilizing the local handicraft traditions. We are offering skills training in small business management, salesmanship, and design and help the group identify local and international buyers for their product.
2022 We will offer a management training course to women of the Skillful Means Program who are interested in learning marketing, sales and promotion. By the end of the year, these coops will become completely self-sufficient.
2022 We will initiate a mobile health outreach program starting in Rupandehi District. Maya Health Mission will offer health education, resources assistance, basic medical care and emergency financial assistance.