Following receipt of some funding from the Soroptimist 3S Fund, Rhona travelled to Nepal earlier in 2018 with Raleigh International, where Rhona and fellow students were responsible for digging and creating new latrines for a remote mountain village. Rhona now classes as ‘digging’ as an accomplished skill!!
The students also taught the villagers about general hygiene, while Rhona and the other female students taught the women and girls about hygiene during menstruation including the making of re-useable sanitary pads.
The second part of the trip was a trek through the Nepalese Himalyas.
Rhona found the whole experience extremely rewarding and humbling. The villagers in Nepal had little choice in what food they could eat, the clothes they could wear and what work they would undertake.
When Rhona returned home to Scotland she was overwhelmed with all the choices in her day to day life, which re-inforced the huge difference in the experiences of a teenager in Nepal compared to Scotland.
Following a nomination by the members of SI Glasgow City, Rhona received the funding award. The Soroptimist 3S Fund is managed by Soroptimist International Scotland South Region (SI SSR) with all funds for disbursement arising from donations from all SI SSR clubs.