Sold into domestic slavery at the age of 6, Urmila is now free and leading the fight to abolish Nepal's Kamalari slave system with help from Plan.
Urmila spent 12 years as a domestic slave when her parents traded her to pay off a debt. They thought she would get the chance to study - but instead Urmila was forced to spend all day, every day, performing endless chores for her master.
In 2008 Urmila was finally allowed to visit her family - that's where she learned that the Kamalari system is now illegal. Today she is president of the Kamalari Girls' Freedom Forum, which works to rescue and protect Kamalari girls.
2,250 girls have been released from domestic slavery since Plan started supporting the Kamalari girls project in 2006. The project has now been expanded to 2 other districts.
Find out more about Plan's work in Nepal
Join Plan's global Because I am a Girl campaign
Learn about Plan's 75th anniversary celebrations
]]>Meet Efraín Calles - a former sponsored child from El Salvador whose life was turned around with help from Plan and his US sponsor.
Now a teacher, Efraín recalls fondly the inspiring pictures and postcards he recieved from his sponsor, as he grew up in rural Chalatenango.
Through Plan, his family were able to move from a mud hut to a safe building, while he and his siblings received school equipment and skills training.
"I still have this dream of meeting my former sponsor one day," says Efraín. "To tell her what I've achieved thanks to her support - and to show her that I'm now helping children who are in the same situation as I was."
]]>November 2011: Since 2007, Plan has built more than 2,400 water tanks for families in remote areas of Guatemala.
In the past, villagers had to walk for hours to fetch water from springs and rivers. Thanks to Plan, families now have a simple but innovative system that collects and filters rain water in their villages.
In Alta Verapaz, the project was so successful that the local government has decided to invest US$8,000,000 over 5 years to replicate the tanks throughout the region.
Watch the video to see how the system works.
Find out more about Plan's work in Guatemala
Learn about Plan's global water and sanitation work
]]>October 2011: Check out this delicious chicken recipe which is keeping Doña Juana's family in Chibax, Guatemala, strong and healthy.
Around 43% of children suffer from malnutrition in Guatemala. Before Plan launched its nutritious recipe project in the village, the family ate just chillis and tortillas.
"Our children used to get sick a lot on the diet we used to give them. They used to have stomach problems. But now things are much better. Thanks to this project, they are getting plenty of vegetables," says Doña Juana.
Learn more about Plan's work to tackle malnutrition in Guatemala
Visit the Plan Guatemala website
]]>October 2011: Watch this video developed by children in Vietnam on their experience of Typhoon Ketsana and how they plan to protect their communities from future disasters.
Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 160 people, destroyed 21,000 houses and ruined 100,000 hectares of agricultural land when it hit Vietnam in 2009.
The children, who are from an ethnic minority, were given media training by Plan as part of a programme to give a voice to traditionally excluded people. Marginalised groups are rarely included in discussions and decisions on policies and programmes that affect their lives.
Hear the children speak out on their experiences and present their plans for keeping water sources clean, setting up food storage systems and ensuring children receive medical care when the next disaster strikes.
Find out more about Plan’s work in Vietnam
Learn about Plan’s global emergencies work
]]>October 2011: When Hurricane Tomas threatened the Dominican Republic last November hundreds of children were fully prepared to protect themselves, thanks to Plan’s disaster risk reduction training.
Watch the video to see how 447 children from 9 schools in Barahona and Pedernales provinces spent their 2010 summer vacation learning disaster risk prevention.
Through fun activities the participants located their nearest emergency shelters and found the best evacuation routes. They also learned how to raise awareness among parents and the wider community so that everyone was prepared when the next disaster struck.
The summer school camps were implemented by Plan with funding from the European Commission.
Find out more about Plan’s work in the Dominican Republic
Learn about Plan’s global emergencies work
]]>September 2011: Watch the video to see how girls and boys in El Salvador dance their way to a more just world for both sexes.
The scenes and choreography in this film were designed and performed by the Network and Evolution Plan Youth Groups in El Salvador.
]]>September 2011: Like girls, boys and men are affected by negative gender stereotypes – but they also hold the power to create gender equality that will benefit everyone.
Watch the video to see how gender equality cannot be tackled by girls and women alone; how and why men and boys can, and should, contribute to creating a more equal society.
Plan has just launched the fifth of its 'Because I am a Girl' reports, which reveals how gender equality is good for boys too.
Read the 'Because I am a Girl: So, what about boys?' report
Join Plan's Because I am a Girl campaign to fight gender inequality, promote girls' rights and lift millions out of poverty.
Try our quiz on Facebook for a chance to win a Because I am a Girl T-shirt!
]]>September 2011: This film looks at 4-year-old Heidi from El Salvador, who is part of Plan’s global cohort study which follows 135 girls from birth to their ninth birthday in 2015.
The film is narrated by her young mother Mirna, and sheds light on the life of a young, single mother in El Salvador.
Mirna is part of a Plan project for vulnerable girls, which offers counselling and legal advice. It also supports the girls as they seek further education or work.
Read the Because I am a Girl: So, what about boys? report to learn more about Plan’s cohort study.
Join Plan’s Because I am a Girl campaign to fight gender inequality, promote girls’ rights and lift millions out of poverty.
]]>August 2011: An elder from Borana in Ethiopia speaks about how his family and community are being affected by the worst drought to hit East Africa in 60 years.
"We used to live off our livestock and crops. We have lost both things and now depend on food aid," he says.
Millions of people are facing starvation in the Horn of Africa. Plan is providing nutritious food and safe water to some of the hardest-hit communities across Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.
Find out more about Plan's response to the East Africa drought
]]>August 2011: Meet Meselech - a 30-year-old mother struggling to feed her 5 malnourished children in drought-hit southern Ethiopia.
She is now so weak that she can’t produce enough milk for her 5-month-old baby.
“It will be at least 2 months until we can harvest our crops, so we need assistance now,” she says.
Plan is providing emergency food aid to Meselech’s family and thousands of others affected by the drought crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.
Please support our vital work and donate to the East Africa appeal today.
Find out more about Plan’s East Africa drought response
]]>Two years ago, Salamatu, 19, was forced to drop out of business school because she could not afford to pay the tuition fees after the death of her father and brother.
Plan Sierra Leone and local partner, CIFORD, set up youth savings and loans groups in her community and it was not long before Salamatu had joined, become chairwoman of her group, and taken out her first loans: one to buy a bag of rice to start up her small business and one to pay her school fees.
She is one of over 3,000 young people in Freetown, Sierra Leone, participating in Plan's youth savings and loans programme, which introduces 15-25 year olds to financial literacy.
Now Salamatu’s finances are on track and she is back at school pursuing her goal of being a successful business woman.
“It's like my dream was dead during the time I dropped out of school. Now I have realised that my dream will really come to pass one day," she says.
Find out more about Plan’s work in Sierra Leone
21 July 2011: Watch this clip on Plan's work at a food distribution point in drought-hit Ethiopia, via Plan UK's YouTube channel.
Severe drought is threatening millions of people with starvation across the Horn of Africa. Plan is providing emergency assistance to children and their families in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.
Read more on Plan's East Africa drought response.
]]>July 2011: Nearly half of children aged under 5 in Guatemala suffer from malnutrition - but things are changing in Chibax village thanks to a Plan project to boost food production and share nutritious recipes.
For many children, flour tortillas and crushed chillis are all they have to eat each day. Watch the film and see how Plan has taught communities to make their own compost, provided seeds and introduced vegetable gardens.
The project has also taught 1,000 women new recipes to help them ensure that their children eat food high in nutrients.
Find out more about Plan's work in Guatemala
]]>June 2011: See how Plan is helping to cut death rates for newborn babies by 50% in some districts of Nepal.
Two thirds of deaths of Nepalese children aged under 5 are during the newborn period. In 2001, Plan started setting up pregnant women's groups to help women prepare for a safe birth and to care for their babies. Today there are more than 500 groups across the country producing dramatic results.
One 17-year-old group member said: "I've learned lots of things from these meetings, like I should take iron tablets, I must have warm and soft clothes ready for the baby, and when it's born to hold it close to me and to keep it warm. I wouldn't know anything if it wasn't for the Pregnant Women's Group."
Find out more about Plan's work in Nepal.
Learn about Plan's global health work.
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