Because I Am A Girl

Just wanted to share a website and report that Bec and I recently discovered that really resonates with us and the justification for Mitrataa's work in Nepal.

The site is part of Plan International Australia and is called 'Because I am a girl'.

The site proves interesting reading as it includes loads of information on the justification for investing in the education of girls and women. It also has a page dealing with the question 'what about boys'? This is a question I face a lot when giving presentations and unfortunately it is one of the most difficult to answer. Unless you have visited a country such as Nepal and seen the gender discrimination that is endemic in every aspect of society it is very hard to imagine.

The 2009 report on the site is also interesting reading. It gives a lot of information and statistics and the current situation with some surprising and disturbing trends. For example, in some places affected by the global financial crisis, 7 out of the 10 workers laid off are women! The trickle-down effect of this situation is obvious.

As always, we believe education is the best long term solution for these challenges and that is what we will continue to do. All evidence points to the fact that educating women and girls increases the likelihood of them educating the next generation as well as taking better care of their families and contributing to local economies. Mitrataa runs 2 programs specifically targeting education of women and girls:

1. Dream Catchers - scholarships for girls to attend school; and
2. Daisy Chains - literacy, business training and micro-loans for women.

Please do get in touch to find out more, contribute, or become involved.

Let the dreaming begin!

Our Dream Centre facilitators recently ran two activity programs over two days for the lucky girls attending our pilot Dream Centre. The activities covered communication skills and motivation skills with the workshop being prepared by Gayatri, one of our facilitators.

The workshops incorporated games such as Chinese whispers and Pictionary, group discussions and presentation, individual writing and presentation, question and answer sessions and brainstorming. From all accounts the girls had a fantastic time as did the facilitators!

These types of programs will be the cornerstone of the Dream Centres as they fill a hole in the current education system in Nepal. They will teach girls the importance of communication as well as how to communicate effectively. They will also teach the girls the benefits of self-motivation leading to improved self-esteem and self-sufficiency. As the girls build on these teachings and work through further programs it will be exciting to see their progress into the women of tomorrow in Nepal!

Thank you to Gayatri and the Dream Centre facilitators for all their hard work.

In Sydney

Just a quick post here. I've been in Sydney for a short while now and have been racing around speaking to various Rotary Clubs and other organisations looking for donations. We also had a board meeting recently and came up with a lot of exciting plans for fundraising events and projects for next year so look out for more news on those. I've had a number of meetings with schools too with a view to more trips to Nepal next year which is very exciting. Will post more about all of this as things develop.

Stay tuned for an update on the work in Nepal shortly...