Public Talk: Educating Girls in Nepal
Saturday, October 24, 2 pm at UU Meetinghouse, Bennington

The public is invited to a free talk about Hands in Outreach, a Berkshires-based nonprofit organization that sponsors the education of poor girls in Nepal, on Saturday, October 24 at 2 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse, 108 School Street, Bennington. The program, featuring Hands in Outreach founder and executive director Ricky Bernstein of Sheffield, Massachusetts, will be followed by refreshments.

“Nothing uplifts a society more than the education of its girls,” says Ricky Bernstein. He will speak on the origins of his interest in the education of girls living in poverty on the other side of the world and how Hands in Outreach came to be established, share stories about the girls and families sponsored by the organization, and give an update from his rare perspective on life in Nepal after last spring’s devastating earthquakes.

Presented on United Nations Day, which celebrates the 1948 charter of the U.N., this program recognizes the important work of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in promoting international cooperation. For 25 years, Hands in Outreach has demonstrated that the best investment in the life of a girl is access to education.

A professional artist, Ricky Bernstein also organizes the Berkshire Human Rights Speaker Series and on its behalf hosted an International Women’s Day program last spring for the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers.

The program, free and open to the public, is presented by the Bennington Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The branch holds monthly meetings in Bennington and the Northshire, publishes a newsletter, sponsors a book group, contributes financially to anti-discrimination lawsuits, and awards scholarships to local nontraditional women students who are pursuing a college education. Information: Julie Mackaman, jmackaman@gmai.com