With her last $200, Steph paid for trainers to teach the women how to produce products for sale locally and abroad – and Seven Women was born.

Stephanie first told us about Seven Women at the D9800 District Conference in 2013 (left)  The organisation is now self-sustaining, and Stephanie is able to take a step back.

She writes:

 After 17 years of pouring my life, love and passion into starting and growing Seven Women, the time has come for me to hand it over to our capable Nepali staff to carry the future vision forward under the new name of their choice Sungabha Nepal. This is an exciting time for us, as it has been our vision since Seven Women's inception to build an organisation that can stand on its own two feet and generate its own income streams to support our vital community work.

It has been an extremely life-enriching journey and together we have been able to navigate through so many twists and turns, learnings and lessons - but most of all we are proud of staying true to our original mission and impacting the lives of those our vision has so consistently sought to support. Over the years we have seen positive changes in thousands of lives and locations, been able to mobilise huge support during natural disasters and empower so many through education, skills training and employment.

We are grateful to have had two documentaries beautifully capture the essence of our work Bringing the Light (Documentary #1 filmed in 2015) and A Spirited Journey (Documentary #2 filmed in 2019), which are available for viewing and hosting screenings. I have also been able to write a book and sell thousands of copies as a fundraiser for our work: From a Tin Shed to the United Nations - How everyone of us can make a difference.

During this journey so many from around the world have supported us in whatever ways they were able to - and some have visited Nepal in person through our Hands On Development tours to see the impact they have had in supporting Seven Women. I would like to personally thank the hundreds of volunteers and interns who have been a huge blessing in advancing our mission and to our entire team as it has evolved over the years. We appreciate the amazing efforts, large and small, that have contributed to the organisation we can be so proud of today. 

Our vision moving forward is to continue this work and to expand into 7 villages over the next 5-10 years, in a phased process to work with communities and help them become sustainable. The team will carry the implementation of this vision forward working within the same approach and capacity we have done since our inception, in our main focus areas of scholarship programs and education, skills training and employment.

I have had an incredibly blessed journey and it has been a privilege to see the fruits of all the hard work over the years and I have great confidence in our team who will lead Seven Women (renamed to Sungabha Nepal) into the future.

Thanks to all those who have been part of our journey thus far.

Gratitude and Blessings,

Stephanie Woollard