Bhutanese Refugee Women's Forum (BRWF)

While conducting research for my blog, I recently stumbled upon information about an organization called the Bhutanese Refugee Women's Forum (BRWF) that is a “volunteer-run, non-profit refugee organization dedicated to providing community-based education to fight illiteracy, poverty, ignorance, and unemployment.” The organization is based out of the seven refugee camps located in the southeastern Nepalese districts of Jhapa and Morang. There are over 12,000 refugee women who run the organization. The mission statement of the BRWF is “to promote self-reliance and strengthen the capacity of the Bhutanese refugee community.” Many of the BRWF initiatives focus on the empowerment of women, children’s rights, gender violence, and many other important issues. The BRWF has established several programs within the refugee camps, one of which is the vocational training program that provides refugees with the opportunity to acquire vocational skills in one of the following areas: bicycle repair, bamboo craft and furniture production, hair cutting, candle making, sewing and knitting clothing, basic computer skills, hotel management, care for the elderly and disabled, and secretarial skills.

Another program established by the BRWF in the camps is the “Self-Reliance” program. The purpose of this program is to provide refugees with a supplemental income in the refugee camps, and in turn, to provide the camp with a variety of useful products and services that are essential to the well-being of the camp population. The self-reliance program consists of the following activities: honey production, sanitary napkin production, clothing production, and laundry soap production.

The venn diagram at the top of the post illustrates the programs that comprise the Bhutanese Refugee Women's Forum and are made available to the public.

Click on the link below to read an inspirational story about a deaf and mute Bhutanese refugee who successfully completed the hair cutting training program; he is now a barber in the Sanischare refugee camp.

http://www.brwf.org/Home/success-stories/deaf-mute-barber-trained-by-brwf-inspires-hope-among-disabled-population-in-bhutanese-refugee-community