SATH is working on a three-fold model that has its foundations on being able to be independent at home and then help the beneficiaries to explore their leadership
Can you imagine yourself entering a shop to buy something and being given some change out of piety from the owner? What about going to a doctor for consultation and being ignored with all the questions being asked to a friend accompanying you?
These are some real-life situations that happened to someone I admired greatly, Navina Gyawali, the founder of Supportive Action Towards Humanity, SATH. Navina is an activist and social worker who holds a Master in Sociology from Nepal and graduated from the prestigious Kanthari programme, one of the best social entrepreneurship and social innovation schools in India. She was also a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship that allowed her to spend six months in the USA to study political science, one of her passions.
Navina really wants to change the status quo, especially for persons living with visual impairment. Born blind, she never accepted to be defined by her condition, but instead she is challenging the traditional stereotypes that characterise persons with disabilities.
Despite her success stories, some humiliations like the one mentioned above are still haunting her. If this happens to a highly educated young professional who travels around the world, just imagine what other persons with visual impairment have to endure on a day-to-day basis.
I recently caught up with her after a cooking training SATH had organised at the Club House, a new, full-ofvibes hub located in the heart of the capital at Siphal. We might discount the relevance of receiving a cooking class, but if you are blind, it matters a lot, and it is, according to Navina, the first step towards full independence.
This is the reason why SATH start working on a three-fold model that has its foundations on, first, being able to be independent at home and then help the beneficiaries to explore their personal leadership and finally focus on reproductive health. These three areas, according to Navina, represent the indispensable milestones that any young woman with visual impairment needs to conquer in order to fulfill her potential and leave her mark in the society.
At the same time SATH would like also to reach out to young women without disabilities because the organisation strongly believes in partnerships that are so instrumental to breaking down the barriers of isolation and discrimination. Navina found in Adesh Gautam, the founder of the Club House, an important ally for her ideas to take place.
Nestled in a quiet corner, a few steps from the Siphal football ground, the Club House aims to be a place for connections and ideas creation. With a nice garden and a sense of informality in the air, the place is the perfect spot for Navina and her team to plot new ideas.
Despite his own struggles and pressures to start the new hub, Adesh wants to make it as inclusive as possible and be a place where Navina can chart her future. It is where Navina also prepares delicious food for the guests.
A disability activist, passionate in social justice, political science and international relations who also loves cooking. This is quite a description of Navina and, interestingly, all these dimensions, apparently unrelated to each other, are instead brought together and leveraged to enable a change in the lives of many of SATH's beneficiaries.
While teaching cooking, you can also talk about politics, human rights and international relations because a young woman with visual impairment should also be opinioned and be able to develop a personal view of the most important issues happening in the country and around the world. That's why Navina also focuses on leadership and interpersonal trainings.
While it is indispensable to be independent at home, young women with visual impairment also need to gain self-confidence and develop the right attitudes and skills to plan their own life and professional goals. Positive values, accountability and an ability to leverage one's strengths are indispensable tools not only for Navina's beneficiaries but also for any young person.
I personally believe that a person living with disability in Nepal must excel in all these areas in order to have an edge in the society. In order to succeed, if you have a visual impairment or any other type of disability, you really have to work the triple in comparisons with others. There are no choices, only sheer hard work, tons of grit and determination to succeed.
Finally reproductive sexual health care is also a must, a precondition that can allow a young woman to determine her own future. Unfortunately, too many young persons with disabilities, including visual impairment, lack a conducive environment to discover their potential and have a shot at personal mastery.
Navina, despite her struggles, including securing more consistent funding for her organisation, is battling on, and she found an ally in Adesh. I wish more people could take note of this partnership and find their own ways to build their own "collaboratives" with citizens who have great ideas and talents but are often silently "condemned" to a life under the radar, a life full of mediocrity. They should not do that out of pity but rather as Adesh is doing, because they see an opportunity to work with people like Navina. There is more and more evidence that inclusive and diverse working spaces are the best places for employees to thrive and give their best. So why can't more citizens embrace such approach?
Navina has many ideas but she is also worried for her own future. Yet she wants to continue to fight for gender equality, reaching out to more young peers with visual impairment and also other peers without.
What struck me most about our conversation was how Navina concluded it. "I want to get out of my comfort zone and bring in more partnerships and collaborations. I need to push myself and try to be a role model. It is not easy, but I cannot give up on this mission".
A version of this article appears in the print on May 11, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
