Amazing documentary launch!

Last Tuesday evening (18th November) saw the culmination of months of work both in Sydney and in Kathmandu with the launch of the 100 Views Kathmandu documentary. The event was held at The Ritz in Randwick and we had the pleasure of sharing the evening with over 200 friends and supporters. Jessica Rowe added a touch of class to the evening in graciously donating her time to act as MC.

As many of you will know, 100 Views is a celebration of community through the arts, a program devised for schools by children's author Libby Hathorn. Libby travelled with her friend, Pat Granville Smith, to Kathmandu earlier in the year and together they introduced 100 Views to the teachers and students at our Model School, Riviera International Academy. You can read more about their trip including some blog postings by visiting our website. You can read more about 100 Views in general by visiting the website.

Libby arranged a film crew to document her journey in Kathmandu and the result was the fantastic film we were able to enjoy last Tuesday. The film covered a host of topics including the history of the 100 Views program and the introduction of it to Nepal, but more importantly for us it wove this into the story of Mitrataa and our work to help women and girls in Nepal. This meant that the evening provided a great opportunity for us to spread the word of the plight of people in Nepal and the ways people in Australia can help.

Michelle Kline from Randwick City Library Service did an amazing job in planning the event and managing everything on the night. This really was a huge job and I don't think any of us really understand how much work was involved. All that is left is to say a huge "thanks" to Michelle for her dedication and work, and also to the library and Randwick City Council for their support. The Council was extremely generous in covering the costs of the evening so that all proceeds from ticket sales went directly to Mitrataa!

There was a hotly contested raffle during the evening with some fantastic prizes - a 42inch plasma TV, a weekend at Lilianfels in the Blue Mountains, and a dozen bottles of wine. We must give a hugh thank you to the sponsors for these prizes - Phil Favero The Good Guys, Premier Capital Developments and Time Recruitment.

By the end of the evening we were completely exhausted and overwhelmed by the amount of support being shown throughout, not to mention getting over the shock of seeing ourselves on the "big screen" for the first time! It really was so inspiring and motivating to see so much interest and support being generated. Of course our biggest thanks must go to Libby who dared to dream by taking 100 Views to Nepal in the first place. Then to also film the whole thing and produce a documentary that lead us to such a brilliant evening last Tuesday well, it doesn't seem enough but thanks Libby!

As a result of the contribution and work of people like Libby and Michelle, the Foundation raised almost $8,000.00 on the night! The best part is that more donations and offers of support and volunteering are still coming in so the sky now really is the limit! Thanks to everyone who shared the evening with us and also thanks to the many others I have not mentioned here who helped to make the evening such a great success!

Fun and games at Bal Mandir!

Below is a report from our new staff member in Nepal covering a recent program we ran:

Two Australian Blues Musicians, Owen Campbell and James Kavannagh, gave a short musical performance at the Bal Mandir orphanage on October 21. About 150 children aged between 4 - 18 were present to enjoy the festivities. The objective for the day was to have fun and entertain the children with music, particularly as it took place during the main festival of the year in Nepal, Dashain. To this end, we arranged for around 50 kids from a nearby child protection home to join us for the afternoon’s program.

The performance was staged in a beautiful courtyard inside Bal Mandir with enough space to conduct games, singing, dancing and playing. When James and Owen first arrived the kids immediately had them engrossed in a massive soccer game!

This was followed by the musical performances with Owen playing the guitar and James singing. They performed nursery rhymes such as Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, If You’re Happy, etc. Many of the children knew the songs so they sang and danced along.

After the performance, there were more games followed by a snack break. James and Owen helped volunteers from Bal Mandir to give snack boxes to each of the children.

It was then time for more playing as the children were still very excited. With their unmatchable enthusiasm they were running around with friends or footballs. It became difficult to gather them once again at the same place. So we decided to attract them with a game.

After a couple of hours everyone including James and Owen were exhausted! James in particular said it was the most exercise he had had in a long while! On bidding farewell, James, Owen and Mitrataa donated the soccer balls to the children at the orphanage.


We must thank James and Owen for their time and also their energy and enthusiasm. They helped to create a very special day for these children and everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed themselves!