Nepali Women in New York Celebrate a Historic Day of Solidarity & Sisterhood

Queens, NY: On the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2009, yesterday Adhikaar organized a conference titled, “Nepali Women’s Sisterhood: Unity in Diversity.” Over 100 Nepali sisters and brothers came together and shared personal stories as well as ideas for strengthening our community. This was the first conference that brought together such a diverse group of women (and male allies) in our community into one room to share and learn from each other.

Bharati Rai made the opening remarks. Ms. Rai works six days a week, and on Sundays she volunteers to teach English at Adhikaar. Shanti Giri officially opened the conference by lighting the panas. Ms. Giri has worked as a nanny all her life. She had lived in isolation since coming to the US almost twenty years ago, until she found Adhikaar and its support system a few months ago. Now, she is one of our most active members.

In the opening plenary, speakers representing Nepali women representing the diversity of our community gave short presentations. Our speakers included current and former nannies, nail salon workers, gender specialists, women’s rights activists, political activists, students, and professor. The panelists in order of presentation were: Janesh Gurung, Archana Pokhrel, Dr. Geeta Acharya, Nima Sherpa, Sharada Laxmi Shrestha, and Bharati Silawal-Giri. The panel was moderated by Renu Sharma Sapkota, the President of Nepali Women’s Welfare Organization (NWWO). Our sisters from NWWO helped us in organizing this event, and worked with us for months to make the event successful. Adhikaar Youth Group member Rinzin Sherpa introduced the panelists.

Adhikaar’s community organizer, Narbada Chhetri, spoke about her own process of empowerment through Adhikaar and also shared the good news that the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is moving forward in the New York Senate. We also had distinguished guests from Nepal, who were in New York to participate in the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meetings. Bindra Hada, the Secretary for Women and Social Welfare, talked about what her Ministry has been doing, and presented the future roadmap. South Asia Coordinator for Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Bandana Rana spoke about the struggle for gender equality within the UN system.

In the afternoon, participants broke into four groups for small group discussions. The informal setting allowed all the participants to share their personal stories. Each group’s facilitators then shared some of the key issues with the whole group. Brinda Rai, Goma Sen, and Nemu Joshi were the facilitators for the adult groups. Akash Timilsina facilitated the youth group, and Sumeet Shrestha presented the group’s key points. Issues discussed ranged from daily struggles as immigrant women and the impact of economic crisis, sharing information and resources, constitution writing process in Nepal, to lack of role models for youth.

Adhikaar Youth Group members (age 16-25) actively participated in the process, from planning the event to managing logistics, speaking on the panel, and having an engaging discussion in the afternoon.

Pabita Bagchand got the program started, and also ended the program, with two very uplifting songs. Delicious lunch was provided by one of our own – Basanta Shrestha. NWWO Vice President Usha Tamang closed the program with a thank you note.