Background

Our Partner

Sajha Dhago is the first Common Threads Project regional Center of Excellence. Under the leadership of Jamuna Maharjan Shrestha, the team in Nepal has exemplified effective capacity building, adapting the program for their communities, developing a high level of expertise over time, and taking full leadership of the program.

Our Work Then

Common Threads Project Nepal began in 2014, serving women who fled to Nepal as refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Bhutan. Since then, 65 facilitators have trained in the Common Threads trauma healing methodology in Nepal and more than 450 survivors have progressed in their healing journeys. This includes refugees fleeing violence, survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence, stigmatized widows, and members of the LGBTQI+ community who have faced persecution.

The program was also adapted to serve survivors of the 2015 earthquakes and for Sajha Dhago facilitators during COVID-19.

Our Work Now

In 2022, the team of therapists formed an independent non-profit, Sajha Dhago, which is Nepali for “Common Threads.” With years of experience and specialized knowledge, they have embedded the Common Threads methodology into their regular service provision and train others in its application.

In summer 2022, CTP and Sajha Dhago co-led two intensive trainings for facilitators. Among the new cohort were former program participants. In 2024, Sajha Dhago independently held  training for 14 additional clinicians.

They continue to work with women, including survivors of domestic violence and stigmatized widows; teens who’ve survived trafficking; and members of the LGBTQ+ community who face persecution and discrimination.

A Process of Empowerment

Throughout the development of our Nepal program, there has been an active process of empowerment. Former participants have gone on to become facilitators, using their experiences to help others in similar situations. During the 2015 earthquakes, healing circle participants shared their self-regulation skills with others in the community.

Empowerment Through Healing

Sapana Pariyar, a psychosocial counselor in Kathmandu district of Nepal, joined the Common Threads Project team in 2017. As a CTP facilitator, she guided women through trauma recovery, drawing from her own experiences as a Dalit woman.

As for many CTP facilitators, witnessing the transformation that took place in the healing circle was empowering for Sapana, too. In 2021, she co-led a healing circle in Chandragiri, bringing together women across caste, ethnicity, age, religion, and literacy level. Initially hesitant to mix across caste, the women gradually bonded over their shared experiences. Sapana and her co-facilitators addressed the discrimination within the group and encouraged them to move past it. By the end, the women considered each other lifelong friends — sharing meals with laughter and promising to stay connected through regular gatherings and group chats.

Sapana has emerged as a community leader and advocate against discrimination. She holds an elected position in her municipal ward and speaks out against caste discrimination, as she does in her story cloth “There is No Limit to Discrimination.”

“Thousands of people lost their lives because of discrimination. Even in our country Nepal, so many people had to lose their lives just because of their lower caste,” Sapana shares. “In this story cloth I portray the pain that I felt. I wanted to reduce the pain and to upraise the voice against discrimination.”

Sapana's story exemplifies how healing and justice intertwine — and how taking part in healing can empower one’s own self as well.