Last year in September, when Birgit was in Nepal, she met Sangita Pant, the founder and president of EPSA. EPSA-Nepal stands for Entire Power in Social Action-Nepal and is an NGO. Established in April 2004 as Disabled Centre Nepal. Over the years the name has changed to symbolize the importance of their activities to provide a meaningful life.
In Nepal, living conditions for people with disabilities, especially women, are often very difficult. Due to the traditionally conservative culture and male-dominated society, as well as the lack of education, knowledge, and technology, people with disabilities are often severely neglected by their own families and communities. Women with disabilities face triple discrimination: first, because of their gender; second, because they are poor; and third, because they are disabled. For this reason, our project targets women with disabilities who live in poverty.”
In the first conversation, of course, we immediately thought about what we could do together and how can we support. Then the conversation turned to the topic of mobility and how important it is for them. The old scooter had now been in use for over seven years and was simply no longer safe.
Thanks to our donors, we were able to solve this problem this year: we paid for a new scooter plus a helmet and insurance. Our agreement stated, “Since COVID-19 began in 2020, we understand the extraordinarily difficult situation faced by women with disabilities housed at EPSA Nepal. With our financial support, we will fund the purchase of a new disability scooter, helmet, etc. as per EPSA’s previous offer. Sangita Pant, Executive Director of EPSA Nepal, is coordinating this purchase and the original receipts will be given to us.” And so it happened and we are very happy about it:
We say to all our buddies: thank you very much. Without you, this would not have been feasible.