Partner from Nepal meets with PDA, GEP and others in Louisville
The ‘life-giving conversation’ touches on mutual interests such as helping to assist and empower vulnerable communities
LOUISVILLE — Representatives from several ministries of Presbyterian Life & Witness gathered at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, this week to dialogue with a partner whose organization, Together for Nepal (TFN), has provided a safety net for rural communities grappling with the effects of disasters and poverty.
Subhasan Bhattarai, founder and executive director of TFN, provided an overview of work the organization has done in recent years with the help of grant funding from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. The work has ranged from building temporary shelters for displaced families to providing assistance to farmers to helping girls make useful products, such as reusable sanitary napkins.
Staff and leaders from PDA, Global Ecumenical Partnerships, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, and Interpretation and Communications listened attentively as Bhattarai spoke and expressed his gratitude for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s support on July 13.
“We are really, really thankful,” said Bhattarai, whose visit also included lunch with ministry staff and the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) and Executive Director of PL&W.
Stressing the importance of being in relationship, Bhattarai also spoke fondly of visits to Nepal by various PC(USA) staff members, including the late Sheku Sillah, who was PDA’s Regional Project Manager for Africa and Asia and helped with projects, such as the distribution of water filters, before his death in 2022.
It’s a “great experience working with you guys, who are brothers and sisters … and also very open-minded,” Bhattarai said.
Nepal is a small country situated between India and China on the southern slopes of the Himalayan mountains. PDA began working with Together for Nepal after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country in 2015, killing about 9,000 people, injuring about 22,000 people and leading to significant economic and structural losses.
“Following the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal, PC(USA) had resources to share and a deep desire to help in recovery but was lacking active humanitarian development or missional relationships within this predominately Hindu country,” said the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, manager of international response for PDA in Partnerships Beyond the PC(USA).
“Presbyterian Disaster Assistance was grateful to be invited to partner with two incredible local organizations, which formed in response to the needs of communities impacted by the earthquake, and in that shared work, has established lasting partnerships that continue to expand our awareness and understanding of neighbors in Nepal," Kraus said.
During Bhattarai’s presentation at the Presbyterian Center, he touched on seven projects completed from 2018 to 2024 with PDA support to help residents recover from the effects of the earthquake, the Covid pandemic, flooding, fires, poverty and social marginalization. He estimated there have been more than 42,000 direct beneficiaries of that work.
TFN’s projects have included Livelihood Enhancement in Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality in Gorkha, the epicenter of the 2015 earthquake. Through that LESL project, TFN offered programs, training and supplies in schools and the broader community to improve residents’ educational and economic outcomes.
TFN provided equipment to help schools implement Montessori education, distributed school bags and supplies for hundreds of students and provided parenting instruction and teacher training to improve classroom management and student success.
Menstrual hygiene promotion was another aspect of LESL and included partnering with a non-governmental organization to train high school girls to make reusable sanitary pads. Also, hygiene kits containing sanitary pads, soap, towels and other items were distributed.
Together for Nepal “believes that such support for dignified menstruation results in enhanced self-esteem and reduces absenteeism in schools,” the organization noted in a report to PDA. Along with the distribution of menstrual hygiene kits, “We are hopeful that now many girls will have ‘no shame to bleed.’”
Bhattarai emphasized during the presentation that reusable pads also have environmental benefits and can save money and generate income.
Together for Nepal also has provided mental health camps for the general public, training in vegetable farming and entrepreneurship for disadvantaged youths and distribution of kits containing items, such as seeds, spades and liquid fertilizer.
Electrical installation and entrepreneurship training was conducted too and start-up tool kits were given out. “We believe that giving of such training and the tools will help to generate extra income and can be a practical way to break the cycle of poverty,” the organization stated in its report.
Another project, Lifeline Shelters for Nepal, has resulted in transitional housing for 45 families affected by disasters, such as flooding and a 2023 fire.
“The built shelters, expected to last 4-5 years, offer these families much-needed security and stability, allowing them some extra time to rethink and rebuild their lives with dignity,” the organization noted in a report to PDA. “We also distributed 72 ‘care buckets’ filled with mosquito nets & hygiene kits in the communities.”
Along with providing an overview of TFN’s projects, Bhattarai took questions about topics, such as the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Bhattarai lamented the USAID cuts and noted that TFN lost the opportunity to become a subcontractor on a project because of it.
It is important to understand the impact of USAID cuts and to explore the connections between different types of ministry and civil society work “in this American moment of substantive withdrawal from a commitment to global aid and development,” Kraus said after the gathering. The meeting with Bhattarai “was a chance for local to meet local at a shared table across many miles of difference, both physical and cultural, reminding me that in all ways, we are better together.”
The Rev. Mienda Uriarte, Partnerships Beyond the PC(USA)'s senior director, also reacted positively to Bhattarai’s visit.
“As Partnerships Beyond the PC(USA) continues to live into our call for broadening the scope and deepening relationships throughout the world, it was our joy to spend time listening to and interacting with Subhasan as he updated us on the opportunities for strengthening the partnership between Presbyterian Life & Witness with Together for Nepal,” she said. “The life-giving conversation discussing common goals of addressing both the symptoms and the root causes of poverty was inspiring and challenging as we also named confronting issues such as geopolitics and climate change.”
The gathering also served as an opportunity to educate Bhattarai about how ministry work is evolving in the PC(USA), where Global Ecumenical Partnerships has succeeded the former World Mission.
“While much has changed in the ways PL&W has begun to organize its work and witness, our shared, deep desire to engage meaningfully with PC(USA) global partners and to accompany their work in tangible ways together is a steadfast commitment,” Kraus said. “The group we gathered to meet with Subhasan and to learn more about Together for Nepal's work was inspired by PDA's long association but enriched and expanded by the new framing of our global engagement.”
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