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Seti Project, Nepal |
 Background | Project Overview | Activities | Outcomes and Implications | Resources | Questions PROJECT ACTIVITIES |
 The Seti Project, a pilot education and rural development project implemented along the Seti River in Nepal, heavily emphasized the need for literacy and basic education for the young girls and women of this poverty-stricken area. The project activities pertaining to young girls and women primarily focused on health and hygiene issues, as well as methods of cultivation, and encouraging better living habits based on these issues. Literacy skills were addressed in the framework of these authentic, real world skills.
The activities described below reflect the communication of knowledge and skills necessary to improve the health and living conditions of the people of the Seti River area, and may be a useful example and discussion topic for practitioners and program directors in other regions of the world. For convenience, the program activities are generally categorized here by the ages of the participants.
Cheli Beti Classes for Out-of-School Girls To move towards increased enrollment of girls in school, the Seti Project set up an out-of-school program called Cheli Beti, which means "young girl." Each morning, the participants gathered, carrying a slate and chalk in the recognizable blue bag, and set off to meet with their teacher for two hours. Through important practical skills and lessons, they learned to read, write, and count. The girls learned valuable health and hygiene behaviors, which they then passed on to their families. The teacher, one of the village women who had completed a minimum of six or seven years of schooling, began each morning by checking the pupils' cleanliness. The teacher used chalkboard exercises and practical activities that she had carefully developed to teach the girls that they should:
In-School Education for Girls Those young girls allowed to and able to attend school learned to cultivate improved fruit and vegetable gardens, as well as how to read, write, and count. The children were given seeds and taught how to prepare the earth for planting. They learned how to germinate and plant the seeds, apply compost and water, and protect the gardens they had helped to create. Though the area previously had relied on only six types of food plants (rice, wheat, potatoes, onions, chilis, and lentils), the children raised 32 types in the school garden, adding such diet staples as citrus, walnuts, apples, apricots, and other vegetables. Besides the improvement in the diet within the community, the sale of these foods significantly added to school funds. Quicktime Movie: In-School Education T1 Connection (1.4 MB) Women in Adult Education and Basic Skills Classes Women were also involved in the Seti Project's adult education program, which met in the evening. Like those of the Cheli Beti class, the course materials for the adult education classes were designed on the basis of community/learner discussions, which revealed the problems and needs of the people in the area. Here, though, the classes were coeducational, and the women learned a number of health-related habits, as well as activities to aid in community development and boost literacy levels. The women learned to make better stoves with more elaborate chimneys, in order to eliminate their constant coughing caused by smoke-filled houses. 
The Seti Project, a pilot education and rural development project implemented along the Seti River in Nepal, heavily emphasized the need for literacy and basic education for the young girls and women of this poverty-stricken area. The project activities pertaining to young girls and women primarily focused on health and hygiene issues, as well as methods of cultivation, and encouraging better living habits based on these issues. Literacy skills were addressed in the framework of these authentic, real world skills. One important learning methodology in the adult education class was group discussion. Because the class was coeducational, men and women had a chance to discuss their thoughts on issues pertaining to their society, such as the treatment of women by their in-laws and husbands after marriage. |
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Literacy lessons were interwoven with lessons in practical skills. For example, when teaching the lesson "hair," the teacher would ask the girls, "what do we need to clean our hair?" She then had them write the word "hair" on their slates. For the corresponding practical activity, the teacher took them to a tap, had each girl wet her hair and lather it with soap, and helped them to wash. The young girls learned activities important in improving their own personal health, and the health of their families and the community. These activities encouraged lifestyle changes that will affect the people of Nepal for generations to come.
