The Nyima Project
The Nyima Project, is a project founded by Cody & Cherise Tuttle, paragliding pilots and film makers who have made several service trips to Nepal. The goal of the project is to first and foremost radically change the life of one Dalit family from an isolated Himalayan village. Dalits, or also known as Untouchables, are persons of the lowest caste in Asia. While every Dalit person is born with limited choice or chance toward radical self-improvement, there are some developing communities breaking free from the confines of their social oppression.
Vision
In 2015, Cody and Cherise Tuttle were on a climbing expedition in Nepal when the earthquake hit. With the country in chaos and many people in need of aid, the husband and wife team sprung into action to help. Through their efforts, they met a young Dalit family living on the outskirts of a village, far from assistances and relief resources, and even farther from societal acceptance because of their caste. Through getting to know this strong and loving family as the individuals that they are rather than as “untouchables,” Cody and Cherise decided to make a film to create awareness about the daily struggles that Dalits go through.
Their film, “Nyima, Under the Sun,” sparked a bigger idea – The Nyima Project. The goal of this project is to provide further relief efforts for Dalits in Nepal and across the Himalaya. This would mainly involve raising funds for schooling for Dalit children so that future generations have the opportunity to break free from the shackles of the caste system through education.
Build Nyima a Home Project – A Project of the Nyima Project
Since the filming of this documentary, Nyima's family has been at risk of being evicted from the land they have been living on for many years. It belongs to the village of Samagaun and it was on loan to them when their father was serving as the village's blacksmith. The older children are unskilled and cannot fill his role and the mother makes only $10 per week making her weaves.
Helping to fully integrate Nyima’s family in their community as well as to provide access to education will not only help this one family of Dalits, but will kick-start The Nyima Project’s larger purpose of bettering the lives of Dalits across the Himalayas.
The Nyima Project’s goal with the Build Nyima a Home project is to raise enough money to purchase a plot of land for Nyima’s family and provide funds to purchase building supplies for their new home. Because they are on borrowed land, they are not allowed to grow food or have any livestock. Being in such a remote part of the Manaslu region, purchasing food is incredibly expensive. As a large family, they’re in danger of starvation living in extreme poverty without the tools available to succeed. By helping Nyima’s family purchase land of their own, it will allow them to be debt free from the village. By having their own land, they will be one step closer to equality in the eyes of the villagers. With ownership comes belonging.
*Completed!
Why is the Nyima Project important?
Because of their place in society and caste-based discrimination, Dalits have to endure many hardships in order to receive an education. Aside from the fact that schooling often costs too much for a Dalit family to be able to afford, the forms of structural discrimination and abuse that Dalit children face in schools are often so stigmatizing that they are forced to drop out of school. The literacy rate among Dalits in Nepal is less than 33.3% above grade six, compared to the 67.5% among the higher classes.
By creating a scholarship fund, these children would be able to attend school at the same rate as the wealthier families and in the school uniforms that everyone else wears, with the hope of eliminating the discrimination that they currently face.
There are a few NGO’s that are currently trying to help Dalit’s receive a better education. ADWAN has helped 14,934 children become educated since 1998, and NNDSWO puts education as one of their priorities in eliminating caste based discrimination. Though both of these NGO’s have helped significantly, they’re also focused on improving other aspects of Dalit life. A completely education based project like The Nyima Project will allow more energy to be put into maximizing the efforts of improving this specific issue. Bettering all aspects of Dalit life starts with education.
HOW
Educational Costs
Boarding School
$1,321 USD: Primary School for a child for one year
$2,099 USD: Secondary School for a child for one year
Local School Costs
$30 USD: Primary-school child for one month
$50 USD: Secondary-school child for one month
$100 USD: University or professional trade program for one month
$360 USD: Primary-school child for one year
$600 USD: Secondary-school child for one year
$1200 USD: University or professional trade program for one year
$5400 USD: Entire education for one child
