As we look toward the future, LSF is dedicated to evolving into an organization led by Little Sisters for Little Sisters. In line with this vision, Ranjana, a 2003 LSF graduate, was recently appointed to the Nepal Team's executive board of directors. She is the first Little Sister to sit on Nepal's executive board.

Ranjana (pictured above) knows what it means to battle discrimination and adversity and help Little Sisters navigate similar struggles. Ranjana comes from a marginalized community in rural Nepal. When she was 15, her parents arranged her marriage, and she was forced to drop out of school after 10th grade. While raising her children, she started working as a teacher. This is when LSF entered her life and gave her the opportunity to go back to school so she could complete 11th and 12th grade. After completing her bachelor’s degree in education, Ranjana worked in education, eventually opening her own Montessori school. Ranjana continues to give back to LSF by mentoring younger Little Sisters. She has dedicated her life to educating the next generation and to speaking out against child marriage. LSF is incredibly blessed to have Ranjana step into this new leadership role as a board member who can provide LSF with the guidance and insight needed to positively impact the lives of many more at-risk girls like her in the years to come. 

In addition to appointing the first Little Sister to Nepal's executive board, all 23 members of the Nepal advisory board are graduated Little Sisters. We are excited for this new leadership direction and look forward to working with more Little Sisters to create an organization for Little Sisters that is also led by Little Sisters!  Afterall, who better knows the challenges facing financially disadvantaged and at-risk girls in Nepal than the very Little Sisters who were, a few short years ago, in that exact situation and have overcome those obstacles through the safety, education, mentoring and opportunity provided by LSF?

Namaste,

Trevor

Technical Trade School: A Path to Independence

Many girls in Nepal from the most disadvantaged families are frequently pressured to drop out of school and marry after 10th grade or even earlier in order to relieve the economic burden to their parents. This practice often leads to rampant abuse as well as early pregnancies that endanger both the mother and the child. For this reason, it is vitally important that Little Sisters remain in school and gain degrees that provide employment opportunities and earning potential in order to ultimately break the cycle of multigenerational poverty into which they were born. 

While Little Sisters Fund already provides some support to many girls in our program to attend university through our Higher Education Opportunity Fund program, there are many girls whose poverty is such that they cannot afford to wait six years (two additional years of high school plus four years of college) to become gainfully employed. LSF's Technical Trade School Program addresses this issue by supporting Little Sisters pursuing technical trade degrees in well-paying, stable career fields such as nursing, laboratory technology, dental hygiene, computer engineering, and more. There are currently 63 Little Sisters pursuing technical trade school. We firmly believe these degrees will help Little Sisters rise above the systemic challenges that have faced Nepalese girls and poor families for generations.

"Many people told me I should not study engineering. They believe Aeronautical Engineering is just for boys. But the encouragement from LSF helped me achieve my dream. I am really grateful to LSF, because of them I chose to stand up for myself and stand out from the crowd." - Bhawana, pictured above, 2020 LSF Graduate

New Little Sister Profile: Aashreeya

Aashreeya’s parents belong to a marginalized community in Nepal. Aashreeya’s father works as a daily wage laborer but is not a reliable source of support for his family. Her mother works as a domestic helper. It was difficult for her to send Aashreeya and her older brother to school on the family’s meager earnings, so Aashreeya would have been forced to drop out of school if not for LSF's help.   Aashreeya is in 2nd grade and enjoys going to school. Her favorite subject is math but she finds English to be a bit difficult.

She loves participating in school activities like dancing, handwriting and speech competitions. She likes her teacher and wants to be like her in the future.

If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring Aashreeya, please reach out to Trevor at trevor@littlesistersfund.org.

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Thank you! Dhanyabaad!