Dates of Trip: June 15 to June 30, 2009
Student Trip Leaders: DB Bishwakarma and Precious Frazier

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Susan McDonic
Estimated cost: $3000
Cost includes: airfare, transportation, meals, and all activities.

Dalits, (also known as “untouchables”) face severe sociopolitical inequalities and caste-based discrimination throughout Asia. This trip will study Dalit rights and the implications on education and gender stratification in Nepalese society and politics.

The overall objective of this trip is to provide firsthand experience for students at a grassroots level of program planning and policy analysis activities. Students will meet with communities and representatives from local and national Dalit organizations, human rights institutions, government agencies, political parties and international development agencies. Similarly, students will observe and learn about Dalit empowerment activities run by the Dalit NGO Federation of Nepal (www.dnfnepal.org). Additionally, students will be involved in volunteer service working to establish a ‘Bhima Library and Community Center’.  
It is our hope that the trip will provide an opportunity for students to engage directly to manage, organize, and participate in the forthcoming Global Conference on Dalits and Politics: Breaking the Silence for Equality and Freedom which is scheduled in 2010 organized by the International Commission for Dalit Rights (ICDR).

Nepal is in the processes of democratic transformation and formulating a new constitution. This trip will also provide advocacy support and solidarity for the Dalit Rights Movement of Nepal to ensure their proportionate representation in decision making and execution processes through inclusive framework in the new constitution.