Who we are
Manfred Maier
My connection to Nepal goes back to the year 2001. During a journey, I visited Janakpur, the site of the famous temple of Rama and Sita the deities of love. There I first met Dollie. She approached us, fascinated that Western visitors had found their way to such a meaningful temple in her hometown.
Our first encounter was open, warm, and filled with curiosity on both sides. The next day, she invited us to visit Janakpur Womens Development Center not yet 20 years old at the time was leading with remarkable passion. With creativity, clarity of mind, and a fiery spirit, she supported women who often fall through the cracks of the caste system.
This began a written correspondence, and a few years later she received an invitation to Fürstenfeldbruck to experience life in Europe. We spent a good time together, and later her journey led her to Sweden, where her life continued to unfold positively. Even at that time, she carried a deep inner calling: to help and serve others, shaped by her own life story and heartfelt compassion.
We often spoke of one day creating a project together. In 2015, this dream started to take shape: to support casteless girls in Nepal individuals who truly belong to the poorest on this planet. From this, gradually, Nepal Landing Hands emerged.
In May 2017, we organized events at my yoga center to bring awareness to their situation and to inspire loving support from people here. During my Christmas meditations, Nepali handicrafts were also offered, helping to fund these initiatives.
Then the Corona period came and, as with so many other efforts, our work was slowed down. But Dollie persevered. She continued to organize, to engage, and to inspire. Today after all these years she remains full of energy. And I am grateful to stand beside her, to support her, and to bring more people to join this meaningful cause.
It is a connection of the heart that has grown over decades.
A friendship.
A shared vision.
A service to humanity.
This is what I stand for and this is why I am committed.
Amita Garg
Amita Garg is a vocational education leader with a deep belief in education as a pathway to dignity, independence, and long-term change. With a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Oxford, she has dedicated her career to expanding access to meaningful career training particularly for individuals from marginalized communities so they can build secure and fulfilling lives for themselves and their families.
Amita’s work is guided by a strong sense of social responsibility and a commitment to equity in learning. Throughout her career, she has helped design and support programs that remove barriers to education, strengthen employability, and create real opportunities where they are most needed. These values closely align with the mission of Nepal Lending Hands, where education is not only about skills, but about hope, confidence, and the possibility of a different future. Amita is inspired by initiatives that combine local leadership with long-term vision, and she is proud to support work that empowers girls and communities to thrive through education.
Sofia Karlsson
Sofia Karlsson works in the field of urban climate resilience and has experience in research and international development work through the Stockholm Environment Institute and UN Habitat. After completing upper secondary school, Sofia was eager to gain a deeper understanding of the development sector and explore ways to strengthen girls’ right to education globally. A combination of factors led her to Janakpur with Nepal Lending Hands.
When Sofia met Dollie, she was impressed by her dedication, entrepreneurial spirit, and clear vision for the self founded charitable organization. Sofia was also interested in understanding the unique role of grassroots movements within development work in relation to larger global institutions. The strong focus on promoting girls’ right to education, regardless of caste or background, was a key motivating factor, as was the significant need in Nepal particularly in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in 2015.
For one month, Sofia and Moa supported the organization by helping to establish social media accounts and, together with Dollie, interviewing girls from lower castes in Janakpur to gain a deeper understanding of their situation. During this time, they stayed with Dollie’s family and learned about Nepali and Hindu culture, which proved to be an eye opening and enriching experience. It was a culture shock in the best sense, one that sparked reflections on international aid, social change, the importance of locally rooted initiatives, and differing cultural perspectives on gender roles. Dollie’s family welcomed them with warmth and generosity, allowing them to take part in a wide range of vibrant festivals and traditions.
Although brief, Sofia’s time in Janakpur became significant for many of her future choices from studying sustainable development abroad and focusing on grassroots perspectives in her bachelor’s and master’s theses, to working with co-creative methods in climate adaptation. Nepal Lending Hands is an example of how an organization, created by a passionate and courageous individual, can make a real difference where it is needed most. Sofia therefore warmly recommends Nepal Lending Hands to anyone interested in engaging internationally in support of girls’ right to education.
If you have questions about what it is like to volunteer with Nepal Lending Hands, you are welcome to contact Sofia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-karlsson-b3218320a/
Coralynn Davis
Coralynn V. Davis currently holds the post of Presidential Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. She has also served as Chair of the Faculty and Faculty Director for Academic Civic Engagement at Bucknell. An award-winner
teacher, Coralynn holds a PhD (1999) in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, where she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies (1994).
Coralynn’s ethnographic research with communities in Nepal and India has been supported by three Fulbright Grants (1994-1995; 2003-2004; 2016-2017). In addition to having produced peer-reviewed articles in journals centered in several disciplines, her book Maithil Women’s Tales: Storytelling on the Nepal-India Border was published by University of Illinois Press in 2014. In more recent years Coralynn’s scholarly efforts have resulted in her production of an award-winning documentary film based on her research in Mithila, Sama in the Forest (Dir. Carlos Gomez), which showcases women’s stories and storytelling as critical to the ways they grapple with gender norms and other shifting aspects of their lives. Coralynn has also co-led efforts to create a new Mithila Studies Network for the production of interdisciplinary, caste-, religion- and gender-inclusive scholarship in the region and its diasporas. An early result of this effort is a forthcoming (2026) special issue of the journal Asian Ethnology.
One thing that is indisputable about Nepal’s Maithil speaking region today is that Dalit communities there are severely oppressed due to many decades of deeply entrenched casteist practices that have had profound effects in terms of material and psychic wellbeing, including educational deprivations. Girls from Dalit communities in the area, in addition, face gender-based discrimination and physical and sexual danger from both within and across caste.
Nepal Lending Hands makes a direct intervention in these matters by providing accessible, culturally sensitive, and community-relevant education, promoting dignity and solidarity, as a strategy to end intergenerational subjugation and exploitation. It is for these reasons that I
support the remarkable efforts of Nepal Lending Hands and encourage others to join me in doing so!