“Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely – and the right to be heard.”
– Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State and presidential candidate
Let us celebrate this International Women’s Day with same enthusiasm and energy and tell the world the Power of Women.
Here are a few women from India and Nepal who have made tremendous changes and have brought up their respective societies at large and have marked their presence globally.
INDIA: Ishita Khanna
Ishita Khanna, Co-Founder of Spiti Ecosphere has worked towards combining the sustainability in livelihood and conservation. Spiti Ecosphere exhibits the passion towards making people get eased at the mountain travel and being adventurous gets to another topmost aim of Spiti Ecosphere. Ishita Khanna is a social entrepreneur. Her experience at the grassroots and her passion towards the mountains and environment has proved out to be the driving force for her philosophy. She was voted as an MTV Youth Icon in 2008 and was awarded The Real Heros by CNN-IBN. Ishita mentions that her Masters’ dissertation at TISS on the impact of tourism on the natural and cultural environment of an area helped her with better insights into what does Spiti as whole require. It was not only through the education but in large the passion towards a responsible tourism picked. Ecosphere also works in getting the environmental education and sustainability in schools and ingenerate in them the responsibility towards tourism industry.
Ishita’s initiatives began through her former NGO Muse with the infamous Seabuckthorn. Seabuckthorn is a shrub which grows widely in semi-arid regions of the valley. It was formerly considered a weed and was eradicated but now it generates revenue under the brand name ‘Tsering’.
Ishita serves a great hand in the evolution of Homestays in Spiti. It was definitely a challenge although with the word of mouth Ecosphere finally could begin its tourism initiatives.
Ishita’s another initiative through Ecosphere has commendably introduced artificial glaciers in order to combat the severe cases of complete crop failures due to great variation in snowfall. It built check damns where water can be slowed down to freeze and would melt in spring. Ecosphere has also brought in the build of greenhouses in a few villages of Spiti where crops can grow all throughout the year which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible in Spiti’s climate.
Ishita has also put some light onto the traditional arts of the local community which includes Yak’s wool spinning and pottery making. Ecosphere covers around 80% of the projects to be introduced to the people; with this Ecosphere happens to knit and cling itself to the local community that almost everyone in the valley is familiar with; Ishita and her Organization.
NEPAL: Sonu Shakya
Women Lead Nepal is an organization run by women aged 16-30. It invests in the leadership of young women to bring about key leadership positions against men in the society. Sonu Shakya the president of Women Lead Nepal has been involved in Women Lead Nepal since its pilot program in the year 2010. Sonu started off as a volunteer in an anti-human trafficking organization preceding which met the co-founders of Women Lead Claire Naylor and Claire Charamnac, who had a concept of carrying a 14day leadership institute training. The training brought in positive responses and since then WLEAD had been training a group of about 30 girls each year.
Sonu mentions she is involved in training a particular age group of girls who could bring practicality to the theories taught in the training the organization provides. The girls in the 12th grade are recruited for different purposes such as visiting different schools and organizations. The recruited female youths are given training on leadership, teamwork, women’s right, public speaking and project management.
Leadership provides an opportunity to build up confidence. The female youths are expected to train 20 students of grade 9 for four months with sixteen different sessions.
Entrepreneurship provides abase experience for the girls who aim at starting their own business.
Advocacy provides the opportunity to learn and initiate ideas. Sonu talks about a batch of 2012 who had started an anti-harassment movement called “Hollaback”. Hollaback is an international movement against street harassment. Till today this movement can be found involved with different activities.
Development provides the opportunity to intern in any other organization of their choice.
Sonu is very keen on bringing out the girls from the mindset of getting married post-high school and bring on track the girls who struggle choosing their subjects post-high school. She proclaims who undergo this training program certainly are in a position to choose their career and an inspiration for others. WLEAD believes that women possess the same ability as men but they haven’t gotten enough opportunities to showcase their abilities. She encourages the students to take decisions which benefits them and the society as a whole.