Livelihoods, inclusion and opportunity
in Banke
"Our Church very quickly understood the need to care for people practically -
Pastor Ramesh, Smyrna Missionary Church
Prema loves school.
Right now she's part of a class that can only meet in the shade of a building under a tree, but she's still the first in her family to have any formal education. That's because Prema's ethnic group aren't officially recognised with birth certificates in this part of the country, and without a birth certificate, she can't attend a government or private school.
MILAP, the social services arm of the Smyrna Missionary Church in Nepalgunj, is working to change that.
MILAP means reconcilation, and the team aim to bring people together to change their own lives.
Read more about MILAP
Disability Inclusion
Better Health
More kids in school
What do the projects deliver?
MILAP works among women, children and people with disability to provide resources like training, mentoring and advocacy skills.
Their networks include:
- Self Help Groups, where members can learn skills that help them earn an income: growing mushrooms, learning about agriculture or breeding livestock
- Disability Support groups, which help people with disabilities to network in their community and connect with government services
- Local government, working to provide disaster response and climate change resilience
- Verandah classrooms, providing early education for children who don't currently have citizenship papers and are ineligible for school
The results are life changing, with women better able to contribute to their family income and speak up to gain access to support payments and pensions, education scholarships and health services.
People with disabilities in this community report an increased sense of inclusion, and are contributing to local municipality plans to help people with disabilities play a more significant role in their communities.
Meet some of the people the projects support
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