Quick Project Update

Hard to believe I have already been in Kathmandu for 8 days but time flies here when working and especially when you don't stop for weekends! The trip has been extremely productive and I am so excited about the work we will be doing this year. Below I just wanted to share a quick overview of the things I have been discussing with out partners and the plans that are being made.

Dream Catchers Scholarships

Whilst exact figures have not been set (as this of course depends on our sponsors!) we will be increasing the number of scholarships being offered with all of our partners. This means more girls will be going to school this year in Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur, Panauti, Sanga and Phulbari!

Daisy Chains

As all of our existing groups are now moving on to start their businesses we will be looking to start the education component for new groups of women. It is looking likely that this year we will be going beyond Kathmandu to introduce the program to some groups of women in Phulbari and Panauti as well!

Dream Centres

We have narrowed our options down to 2 locations for the first Dream Centres, one in Kathmandu and one in Lalitpur. We are working with local community management to secure their support for the Centres and expect this to be finalised by the end of March. We have selected 4 tutors for the Centres and they are doing their training at the moment. In fact I will be working with them on a workshop exploring different teaching methods tomorrow! The timeline for the first Centre to be open by the end of April is looking good.

Child Care Centre - Phulbari

One of the new projects we are planning is the opening of a child care centre for the women in Phulbari. At present these women are carrying their babies on their backs whilst they work in the fields and on construction sites - not terribly safe or ideal for the babies and not the best way for the women to work either. In conjunction with a local women's group we are finalising plans for how the centre will be run including staffing, facilities, food for the children etc. This should make an amazing contribution to the village as well as providing a base for us to introduce our Daisy Chains project there.

Model School

There are some great plans in the coming year for Riviera. We will be running a poetry and art competition with them for all schools in the Kathmandu Valley area, this provides a fantastic opportunity to promote the arts and creativity to a much wider audience! We will also be increasing the exchange programs the kids at Riviera enjoy with school children in Australia and further afield. The first of these will be a photo essay of their school and local area that will be exchanged with students from Eden Marine High School on the south coast of New South Wales.

This is just a quick look at some of the many things we are planning for this year and I look forward to sharing more of our work with you as it begins to take shape!