By Martha Newell, Board Member

Reeti Before

Reeti KC was a self-described “overweight teenager” who found her self esteem plunging in her teen years because she didn’t believe she was beautiful. One day, some very articulate, self-confident young women spoke at her school about a program they had completed through Women LEAD. Reeti wanted to be confident like them so she applied to join the program they described. 

Reeti credits her participation in Women LEAD’s yearlong program in helping her identify her passion. The first two-week leadership course introduced her to skills such as self-defense, public speaking, and negotiation, as well as topics like identity, media and gender stereotypes. When she learned about media stereotypes, she realized her self-hatred was fueled by the media saying her body type was not beautiful and that she and the people around her had all bought into that stereotype. That realization changed her life. Her goal quickly became to eradicate these stereotypes and celebrate all body types. Five years after beginning the Women LEAD program, she graduated with a degree in Media Studies.

Before some of the CCF board went to Nepal in Feb 2015, I learned of Women LEAD from a colleague. Women LEAD put us in touch with Reeti to speak at an International Women’s Day program for CCF’s Power of 5 scholarship recipients. Reeti had completed most of her year in the Women LEAD course by then. We were impressed by what a strong confident speech she gave and how she inspired the Power of 5 recipients to want to be a part of Women LEAD. After she spoke I was lucky enough to interview Reeti to learn more about her experience with Women LEAD. Reeti said it was her first public speech since 9th grade when she “ran away from the stage due to stage fright.” It was tangible evidence of how much she had changed over the one-year course. 

We at CCF have stayed in touch with Women LEAD and helped build awareness of their programming to the scholarship recipients of our Power of 5 program. This year, CCF has provided our second grant to Women LEAD to support the yearlong LEAD course which changed Reeti’s life. We are in complete alignment with Women LEAD’s goal to empower adolescent girls with the skills, networks and experience they need to become future change-makers in their schools and communities. The LEAD course enrolls girls ages 16-18 who are in their final year of high school. It is a very competitive process to be chosen for the program. Women LEAD has received as many as 300 applications/year and they enroll 30 girls annually. They are very committed to enrolling a diverse group of girls, coming from different ethnic, religious and caste backgrounds as well as those attending private and public schools. Women LEAD provides monthly stipends and English language classes to girls from marginalized backgrounds so they may fully and equally participate.

The LEAD course focuses on the three complementary approaches of identity, community and leadership. As the girls explore their values and strengths, and start self-identifying as leaders in a patriarchal society, it starts shifting paradigms and stereotypes. In addition, the LEAD course provides a safe space for the participants to explore ideas and identity and connects them with a growing community of other young women who share their vision. The young women are also given responsibility to run their own projects, giving them important leadership experience being role models, strengthening their skills and linking them to larger networks.

The initial program is a two-week Leadership Institute in which Reeti found her passion. During those two weeks, the girls gain critical knowledge and skills in teamwork, leadership, communication, management and public speaking. They also learn from guest speakers about contemporary issues including women’s political participation, civic engagement and women’s rights. There is plenty of time for self-reflection built in for the LEADers to absorb and reflect on all they have learned.

After the Leadership Institute, each LEADer is paired with a mentor (a LEAD course alumna) for the remainder of the year. The mentor provides guidance and support, helping the LEADer transition from high school to university. They are in touch online on a weekly basis, participate together in periodic mentoring events run by Women LEAD as well as independently meeting in person on a regular basis. This relationship is key to the success of each LEADer, as she receives constant encouragement and help to keep her focused on the goals she set during the Leadership Institute.

Paying It Forward: School Leadership Program

During 4 months of the program, each LEADer participates in the School Leadership Program (SLP). Pairs of LEADers establish a formal partnership with a middle school of their choice. After many more trainings at the Women LEAD office (150+ hours), the LEADers plan and lead 15 weekly sessions to share much of what they have learned at their middle school with 20-25 students, girls and boys, ages 14-15. The LEADers provide mentoring to the SLP participants, creating a huge ripple effect from the program. The LEADers are clearly kept busy through their participation in this program. In addition to the Leadership Institute, the School Leadership Program and communication with their mentors, the LEADers also attend more than 20 bi-monthly trainings and field trips. They also do advocacy activities throughout the year on issues they are passionate about like street harassment and menstrual taboos.

In their final month of the program, the LEADers focus on professional development trainings including resume writing, networking, and interviewing. They can also participate in summer internships to gain critical hands-on professional experience.

The LEADers enjoy a graduation together to celebrate their growth and accomplishments where they each offer a performance or speech and peer-nominated awards are given out for the LEADer who is most committed, who grew the most and who is the best role model.

CCF exists to promote work like Women LEAD's, believing in their goals to empower adolescent girls with the skills, networks and experience they need to become future change-makers in their schools and communities.

Pandemic Adjustments

Like the rest of the world, Nepal has been affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. Fortunately, the 2019-2020 LEADers had just finished their School Leadership Program before the Nepali government instituted a country-wide lockdown on March 24. The country is currently undergoing a gradual reopening, though that process is subject to change as new cases spike.

After the School Leadership Program ends, the LEADers have 2 months off from the program to prepare for their Board Exams. Though Women LEAD hoped they could conduct the final trainings and events in person, they have had to move their activities online.  June brings a week of online advocacy training, a week of online advocacy projects and 2 weeks of online Professional Development Training, followed by a virtual graduation ceremony.

The 2020-2021 LEAD course recruiting has had to be done online rather than in person through self-assured young LEADer alumni speaking at schools, as was the case when Reeti was inspired to apply to the program. The two-week Leadership Institute is scheduled to begin in early September, with hopes that it will be in person. Time will tell if they will be able to conduct the School Leadership Program those hopes will be realized. 

Reeti Now

After Reeti completed her year in the LEAD program, she went on to be a mentor to LEADers for the next two years. Her mentees came to her for advice about both professional and personal problems. After this long and influential relationship, one of her mentees even followed her to university in pursuit of a Media Studies degree!

Reeti’s interest in gender and media stereotypes has endured and she is currently planning to attend a graduate program in Gender and Women’s Studies in the US or elsewhere. Due to the Nepali academic calendar being different from other parts of the world, she has had to take a year off from formal schooling and hopes to take the GRE in October and begin grad school in fall 2021. In the meantime, Reeti is very excited to report that she just started a 3 month long contract with a non governmental organization (NGO) known as Her Turn. She says Her Turn works to empower girls and equip them with skills and knowledge for a safe and healthy future through various programs including a four week workshop for adolescent girls (12-16 years). http://www.her-turn.org/

In reflecting on how her life would be different if she had not joined Women LEAD, Reeti thinks she might have studied Sociology or Social Work which was her plan before she joined the LEAD program. She says:

“I would have been passive to participate and bring my voice forth in academic or professional environment.

In terms of personal growth, I would be cocooned in self hate, self doubt and lack of confidence. Before Women LEAD, I never thought I could do something and achieve something. I did not believe in myself because there was no one to believe in me. In Women LEAD, I created a motto for myself, "Believe in the belief of believing in yourself", because that was where I learned the power of believing. If I was not a part of Women LEAD, I do not think I would have believed in myself.

Yes, I do acknowledge the possibility of personal growth even if Women LEAD was not a part of my life but I would not have been open to opportunities or build the strength to dive in and have the confidence to know I would be able to do it.“

I can’t think of a better testimony for the LEAD program than Reeti’s words. In a patriarchal world where men are in charge, and women and girls are systemically undervalued, we at the Conscious Connections Foundation are proud to support the work of Women LEAD. Empowering girls and women has been a driving part of our mission from the beginning. We know that increasing the number of women leaders has the potential to create long lasting, profound change not only in these local Nepali communities, but across the Himalayas and around the world. Amidst the challenges and changes of our current times, we need these leaders now more than ever.