Nepal Social Service Fund founders, Earl & Beverly Thompson, recognized early on the need for basic education for women in the remote areas of Nepal.

Working with local community leaders and villagers, NSSF initiated a plan for educating women. Thirty years later the women’s literacy program is going strong. Girls and women age 12 and up meet in the evening after their day of work where they learn how to read and write in the Nepali language.

Women’s literacy coursework includes: healthcare and nutrition, animal husbandry, seed saving and gardening, income generation and marketing, and civics. Each class has 30 participants who meet 6 days a week for 6 months.

Upon graduation each women’s literacy class participant is gifted with seeds for their own gardens and two women are selected to become local volunteer health workers.