As the war in Nepal escalated the Maoist “People’s Liberation Army” began to take hold in Lela’s far western home. Slowly the aid agencies and health services in their area began to leave. Lela, with the help of Purna, has continued the trips through war torn villages with buses being searched by both the government and Maoist armies as they passed through territories held by each army. Lela carried the money to pay for lodging and food for the entire group in her bra as the banks were as unsafe as the roads. Lela and her husband continue to bring children into Kathmandu for surgery despite the peril.

They are funded by Mahila, www.mahilajewelry.com, a company that imports hand crafted sterling silver jewelry. I started the company upon my return home from Nepal 9 years ago, to continue to help support the children.

Nirmala, our second heroine, manages the education program that meets the needs of eighteen high school students in the town of Surkhet and several college and technical students in Kathmandu. In a time when it is dangerous to take a political stand, she is outspoken and fiercely protective of the young women who frequently have no other advocate. Nirmala has appointed herself the mother hen and guardian watch dog of these young women. Sometimes she has taken homeless students in under her own roof.

No one knows the status of needy children in the area as well and few are as dedicated in helping them get a leg up and out of certain poverty with a guarantee of little or no control over their own life. Nirmala stretches the purse strings of our program trying to help as many students as she can. She too carries money to pay for the scholarships in her bra on the long bus ride from Kathmandu. In Nepal social work is not a profession. The definition of a “social worker” is someone who does good works. Nirmala, in the truest sense, is a Social Worker.

The last heroine is very different from Lela and Nirmala. Meghna was educated in India. She is a bright, worldly young woman who is as at home in a pair of jeans as a business dress. Few women in her country have matched her achievements. She and a friend own their own company, Weaves and Blends. They have highly skilled weavers who use wooden hand looms to weave incredibly soft fibers into scarves and other clothing. They show their work at high end fashion shows in Paris, London and New York.