This summer we’ve learned about something amazing taking place in Nepal: in the southwest corner of Deng Province, near India, there is a non-governmental organization called Sisterhome (or Didighar, in Nepali) that is doing crucial work for marginalized women and children of the region.

Sayni Chadhury, who is currently learning about farming at Hatchet Cove Farm, is the director of Sisterhome. With a minuscule budget, the organization runs an orphanage and school for 40 girls who have been taken out of servitude. In addition, Sisterhome staff and volunteers run mobile literacy and domestic rights units, host programs to break down caste barriers, grow vegetables and raise poultry for the families in the Sisterhome community (hence Sayni’s stint learning about farming on Hatchet Cove Farm), run women’s health education and accessibility projects, advocate for women’s rights on a state level, and more. Every day Sayni is on the farm we learn about another facet of her work. We’re amazed by her tenacity, her energy, and her optimism in fighting for women’s rights in a culture that still regularly determines a women’s worth by her marital status, her caste, and her age.  

Now that Sayni and her husband, Sobha Ram, have spent the summer planting, weeding, and harvesting alongside the Hatchet Cove Farm apprentices, we’d like to give back to their community. We’re looking to friends of the farm who would be willing to make an annual financial pledge to Sisterhome for the next five years. We have a donor who is willing to make a matching contribution to Sisterhome for up to $1,000 per year if our community can raise another $1,000 per year. This combined donation of $2,000 per year would make a huge impact to this determined and successful organization. If you are able to make a pledge, please consider doing so. It can be as small an amount as $10 or as large an amount as you dream. If you make this commitment, I’ll send you an annual email reminder and update you on Sisterhome’s achievements. You will send your contribution to me, and in turn I will wire the total amount to Sayni and Sisterhome.

You can see the Sisterhome Facebook page here. If you have any questions or wish to talk to Sayni about her work, please feel free to contact me. If you are able to make a pledge, please reply to this email with your annual pledge amount. (Sayni and Sobha Ram head back to Nepal on August 8th so the deadline to make a pledge is August 6th). You can make your contribution via check (or cash at your CSA pick-up), or if you have a PayPal account you can send your donation via this link (sign in to PayPal, it will bring you to ‘Send Money to Family and Friends,’ then enter the Hatchet Cove Farm email – info@hatchetcovefarm.com, enter your pledge amount, and write ‘Sisterhome’ in the comments).

Thank you so much for being part of this caring, motivated community. I really believe that the folks who make up the farm’s community are remarkable, and we’re so lucky to be able to connect our members with others, halfway across the world, who are also making a difference in their community.

Be well, feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested, and thanks for your time and caring,

Reba