Sumitra Thami: Dolakha, Nepal
Thirty-four year old Sumitra Thami lives in the hilly region of Dolakha with her four children and extended family. Despite working seven hours a day in the fields, Sumitra and her husband, Thrita, battle with the hunger facing their family for nine months of the year because they do not have adequate land or farming resources to produce enough food. Sumitra is a new breed of women’s rights activist. Her first encounter with ideas outside her community was just two years ago through attending meetings organised by Human Rights Awareness and Development Centre, an ActionAid partner.
As part of the HungerFREE campaign, Sumitra marched alongside hundreds of other women from neighbouring villages to nearby Lapilang. She then saw and travelled by bus for the first time in her life to join the national HungerFREE rally in Chitwan, southern Nepal.
She hopes that by being involved in the HungerFREE campaign she will “gain new knowledge, become more aware in a way that will help the village”.
Sumitra Thami leaves her remote rural home for the first time on a life-changing journey to join the campaign in Nepal.
ActionAid launched the HungerFREE Woman campaign in Nepal on Monday 24th November 2008.
Running for 16 days in all 25 districts where ActionAid works, the campaign is calling for the creation of a Women's Rights Forum to champion the delivery of an end hunger and violence against women in Nepal.
