Travelog : Discovering Fashion for a Social Purpose

Kathmandu, Nepal. If you’ve been following our journey, Fashlink.com has now proudly evolved into an interactive web portal where shoppers can buy clothes online.

Over the last few months we’ve been busy discovering the regions best in fashion talent, and a few weeks back Fashlink extended its search and journeyed to the beautiful country of Nepal to discover the unique hand-made crafts and accessories that the country has to offer.

In our search, we came across “Higher Ground”; a vision for those ‘At Risk’. This was a social enterprise envisaged with a dream to train disadvantaged, low-income women and youth. This is done through income-generation skills, job opportunities, rehabilitation &counseling.

  

“Higher Ground Ministries’ started as a vision of the amazing Bimala Shrestha. The enterprise focuses on these ‘at risk’ women and youth, many of who are economically marginalized and turn to human-trafficking and sex-trafficking in desperation and in an attempt to support their family. In Nepal itself, NGO’s estimate that 10,000-15,000 Nepali women and girls are trafficked to India annually, while 7,500 children are trafficked domestically for sexual exploitation.

But at “Higher Ground” creates job opportunities and marketable skills one of which is Hand-made crafts. Not only were we touched by the creativity of these underprivileged women, but we were also amazed by the way this model empowered women and youth to provide both dignity and income for themselves, and with their new skill. The dream is that many of the trainee’s working under the program is that they will eventually be able to give back to society through their own businesses.

High Ground has grown rapidly with the support that it has garnered and now employs more than thirty people. Most of their employees are mothers, orphans and widows, several of them are survivors from the Sex tourism industry.

Higher Ground Team.

Our very own Payal Patel with the ladies of Higher Ground..

Fashlink, an Online Buying Sites, together with “Higher Ground” will be collaborating to provide beautiful handcrafted accessories, for which proceeds will go towards people living in poverty 

to transform and empower them to reach their full potential. 

So watch up and be sure to support..