The NGO "Nepra eV" has been providing leprosy sup­port in Nepal since 1987. Le­pro­sy is of­ten as­so­ci­at­ed with triple ne­ga­tive effect: after the phy­si­cal di­sease comes so­cial ex­clus­ion which ulti­mate­ly leads to po­verty. There­fore, Nepra pur­sues a ho­listic ap­­proach: heal­ing, rehabi­litation and re­so­ciali­sation.  Le­prosy vic­tims shall be en­ab­led to lead a dig­ni­fied life by hel­ping them to help them­selves.

In our joint pro­ject, 14 young women from ru­ral re­gions will re­ceive vo­ca­tion­al train­ing as beauti­cians. They come from le­prosy-af­fec­ted famil­ies or are them­selves le­pro­sy-dis­abled. The pro­ject is or­ga­ni­sed in col­labo­rat­ion with the Ne­pa­lese part­ner as­so­ci­ation IDEA.

The theoretical trai­ning takes place as a block course in Kathm­andu, where the stu­dents are ac­com­mo­da­ted in a hos­tel. This part lasts six months. It is fol­low­ed by in­tern­ships as on-the-job train­ing. Thus, the gra­dua­tes are quali­fied to be hired by beauty sa­lons or to start their own bu­si­ness as small en­tre­pre­neurs.­