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 Women globally have played a critical role in ani­mal advocacy since the 19th century. While there are many organizations doing work in their locality to promote animal wel­fare and rights, the organizations below stand out particularly for their work, and for being founded and led by women.

Animal Nepal was established as an NGO in 2008 by Pramada Shah. In the last decade, she’s led the efforts to grow the organization together with an all-women board. She strong­ly believes in the “need to institution­alize things to establish any move­ment, and to leave behind a system for the next generation of leaders.”

Pramada’s vision for Animal Nepal: “The results of our endeavors might not be immediate, but I aspire to ensure that the advocacy we are doing leads to effective policies. I believe in informing laws and poli­cies for long-term impact.”

 The KAT center was registered as a non-profit, charitable animal welfare organisation in 2003

Campaigns she is proud of: “I am thankful that the Supreme Court has made a decision to reduce the scale of sacrifice during the Gadhimai fes­tival. With our collective efforts, we have managed to reduce the number of buffaloes sacrificed from 20,000 in 2009 to 3,000 in 2014. The work of fellow animal welfare activist Manoj Gautam has been instrumental in effecting this change. Our Equine Program on the fair treatment of working animals has become a mod­el for the international community to replicate. We have a sanctuary for equines rescued from brick kilns where they faced poor treatment.”

Parting thoughts: “I strongly believe in leveraging the power of partnerships. It’s extremely encour­aging to see the number of individ­uals and corporate Nepali donors growing to support our work.”

SPCA-Nepal is one of Nepal’s old­est animal welfare initiatives, which had direct links to the international umbrella organization. Established in 1992, SPCA is the first organization to work on animal welfare, rescue and animal-rights advocacy. It is cur­rently led by a working committee of eight women and three men.

Samjhana Acharya shares, “I’ve been vegetarian for 12 years, and once I left the banking sector, I wanted to be a part of the eco­system that advocates on behalf of animals. I feel humans cannot exist without animals, but animals can exist without us. We should all make a joint effort to do the least harm to our fellow beings.”

Beena Pant shares, “I feel the most sympathetic toward cows; hence our main focus is on developing a rehabilitation center for cows. We have managed to secure land in Paanchkhal and want to make this a model project that can be scaled up across the country. Cows are considered holy in our culture and their by-products have multiple uses, including organic fertilizers. I hope we can get more people to support us in our journey.”

Sneha Care’s founder Sneha Shres­tha shares, “I wasn’t always an ani­mal lover. Four years ago, after much pestering from my husband, I finally agreed to get some puppies, one of which, Zara, became more than a family member to me. But one day, she got poisoned by a neighbor who didn’t like her barking. And despite desperate efforts to save her, she died four days later. In Hindu cul­ture, when a family member dies, we observe rituals for 13 days. I did this for my dog. Knowing how Zara had suffered I began to see street dogs differently. I started feeding them and began paying for space to give dogs shelter, care and regular meals. But I wasn’t satisfied. So with the support of my husband, I sold a house I owned and opened a shelter for dogs. Sneha’s Care means a lot to me as it is my home where hundreds of dogs, 13 cows, six pigs and four goats live. We have helped more than 10,000 animals in just four years and we continue to help those in need.”

Campaigns she is proud of: We started working on implementing the “Live Animal Transportation Standards, 2007”. Since last year, the cruel conditions in which buf­faloes are transported have ended because of the campaign. We also collaborate with other organizations to inform school students about ani­mal welfare.

“Most of my volunteers and sup­porters are women. Women are full of love and passion. They can save the world.”

The KAT center was registered as a non-profit, charitable animal welfare organisation in 2003. Jan Salter, the founder, was a talented artist and humanitarian. In 2010 she was pre­sented with the “Extraordinary Com­mitment and Achievement Award” by Humane Society International. She passed away last year, but her vision and love for animals endures.

Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Let us all do our part in supporting these organizations to ensure that Nepal is seen as a leading nation in protecting the rights and freedoms of animals.

For all the art aficionados out there, the Kathmandu Art gallery has brought to you a mega-art exhibition of the year at Le Sherpa, Maharajgunj entitled “Love Revisited”. The exhibition was inau­gurated by the EU ambassador to Nepal Ms. Veronica Cody on March 13, and will continue until April 13. The event showcases about 35 different art projects crafted by eminent artist and former Chancel­lor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, Ragini Upadhyaya Grela. Through the exhibition, Upadhyaya wants to convey a message about various fac­ets of love to art enthusiasts and the general public alike. Upadhyaya has been inspired by the various hues of love such as ‘warm red, romantic pink, green of mother earth and peaceful white’.

This is Upadhyaya’s 61st solo art exhibition. It allows visitors to see how love has evolved over the years and the significance of the human heart in making love a success. The artist has used various techniques such as mixed media style, and met­al/aluminum printing to craft her artworks, which are dedicated ‘to all the mothers and daughters’ of the world who have experienced love and pain in all forms. The exhibi­tion is about the continuation of her journey as a woman artist, the cel­ebration of the International Wom­en's Month as well as the power of mother earth.

“Generations of women have often been shackled by male dom­inance and a patriarchal society, wherein women’s roles are given little importance. It’s high time we realized the variety of ways women have showered love upon men, with unending loyalty and trust,” says Upadhyaya. “In love there is always pain. Love and pain share a unique, ubiquitous and great relationship.”

Upadhyaya says women and wom­anhood have always been an inspi­ration for her. Her artworks in this exhibition are about the purity of love and love in the age of social media. She has also made a compar­ison between the various roles wom­en play as someone’s girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, grandmother and so on. Upadhyaya’s art especially highlights the power of love, vari­ous aspects of love, womanhood, patience and sacrifice women make for their family.

The artworks showcased in the exhibition have been given various titles, such as welcome time, time wheel, sound of love, heart (series), flying time with love, in one, love triangle, love in the air (series), kumara, love and pain (series), the kiss, shadow of love, love time (series), around the stupa, cross culture, etc.

The price of the artworks range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 800,000. And 10 percent of the proceeds from the sales will go to the projects run by Shivata Love Foundation Nepal, an NGO.

“Love provides a special linkage between our hearts and minds, transcending the physical limita­tions of our bodies. My life start­ed as a blank canvas from the moment I was brought into this beautiful world by my loving par­ents. They put their colors and shaped me into who I am today. Lat­er, my society, country and teachers molded me in even better ways. My creations are an open diary of my life, which I want to share with everyone,” says Upadhyaya.

A cup of joe: The origins of the saying are unclear, yet we do love the stuff, even though not all coffee taste the same. In Nepal coffee is grown in the mid-hills between 1,000m-1,800m. The higher the altitude, the better the coffee (as long as there is no frost). According to the Nepal Coffee Producers Association, coffee was first introduced in Nepal from Myanmar by one Hira Giri, in 1938.

But it remained an attrac­tive tree in the courtyard or a hobby until the 1970s when King Birendra declared Gulmi a coffee region, marking the beginning of professional coffee production. Yet even today few people really know that Nepal grows wonder­ful coffee. Or that in Europe Nepali coffee is considered a specialty.

I recently talked to Birgit Lienhart-Gyawali, of Kar.ma Coffee, to find out more about these magic beans. “Although in Nepal farmers receive more money per kilo for the coffee cherries than in other coun­tries, the production is very low. The reason for this is mainly migration.”

“With only the old and very young left in commu­nities, it is hard to inspire them to increase productiv­ity because for them the little income is enough,” explains Lienhart-Gyawali. With coffee trees in other countries yield­ing, on average, 10kg a season (up to 20kg in some cases), the average tree in Nepal produces a mere 300gm. Hard to believe, right? But let’s start at the beginning with the seedling.

Coffee seedlings take about a year before they are big enough to plant out. Another three to five years before you get a harvest. Meantime, the trees have to be trimmed. As a rule of thumb, a cof­fee tree should be no higher than a person and no wider than arms reach. Harvesting season is between Novem­ber and end of March, when only the red berries should be collected. There is an element of trust here as the farmers are paid instantly, by weight. It is only later that bad or under-ripe cherries are found and removed.

When the berries are later placed in a tub of water, the under-ripe, over-ripe, or bad cherries float to the top. After this the fruit flesh is removed from the good berries in the pulping machine. After pulping the beans look some­what like peanuts; that sort of color. Washed several times, it takes them three weeks to dry. Then they are packed and stored till they reach the cor­rect level of moisture.

Meantime experienced farmers can tell by biting the parchment beans whether they are ready to go to the next stage. “We work with farmers in Ilam, Kaski, Sindh­upalchowk, Gorkha and Lam­jung. When the beans reach the parchment stage we buy them from the farmers, and take off the skins, revealing the green beans. A lot of beans are lost in the process in Nepal. For example, six kilograms of cherries gives one kilogram of parchment. This makes it an expensive process. Of course, in other countries it is more mechanized”, explains Lien­hart-Gyawali.

“What is also interesting is that the coffee growers do not drink the coffee, or if they do, they drink that which is not good quality. We spend time educating them in how to prepare a good cup of cof­fee. Once they know what the different beans taste like, it’s easier to convince them not to add in green or bad cherries at the harvesting stage.”

Lienhart-Gyawali demon­strated the next stage. A normal pot, like the one used to make popcorn in households, is heated. The green beans are added and stirred with a kaptero (type of whisk made from sticks) for around eight minutes. The length of roasting affects the taste. In this process the skins come off. Now the beans are ready to be ground for use! Smells good!

I asked whether Nepali cof­fee is actually organic. Yes. Not originally a cash crop, the concept of adding chemicals is not there. And, according to Lienhart-Gyawali, farm­ers in the high hills tend not to use chemicals. There are mainly two types of coffee in Nepal: Arabica (from Ethi­opia) and Typica (originat­ing in Yemen). Arabica, hav­ing the better flavor, is more expensive. Nepal exports very little coffee, with Kar.ma Coffee exporting to Taiwan and Europe.

In Germany it is sold as a charity coffee, with profits going to fund school proj­ects in Nepal. Interestingly nothing is wasted in the Nepal coffee industry—the water from the washing stage goes into the village biogas system, the parchment skins go to feed buffalos, and the green bean skins are cleverly made into conscious living paper products by Kar.ma Coffee. Another cup?

 Finding the Belle Ville Café and Pub at Baluwatar is as easy as locating the Chinese Embassy there. You just have to stand in front of the embassy and look across the street. There’s a small parking space for bikes and cars right behind the building. You can also park on the wide road outside, but then you’ll be at the mercy of the nearby traffic cops. (Our APEX food sleuth was not lucky enough with roadside parking.)

 Inside, the simple yet elegant interior will make you want to grab one of those comfy couches and indulge yourself in a variety of multi-cuisine delicacies that Belle Ville serves. The inviting smell of freshly roasted coffee beans will add to your hunger while you wait for the friendly service staff to bring your order. The restaurant opens its doors from breakfast till dinner, also serving a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, includ­ing draft beer.

 THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Smoked Chicken Saandeko

- Shawarma

- Grilled Fish

Opening hours: 8:00 am to 10 pm

Location: Baluwatar

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,000

Reservations: 014411266