Family Trek Update - bookings close soon...

We've had a wonderful response to our planned Family Trek for 2010.

Due to the majority of people expressing interest being adult, we've decided to go to the culturally more interesting Helambu for a 7 day trek and we'll be staying in village lodges and meeting the locals. It is shaping up to be an interesting and diverse group of like minded souls all interested in Nepal and the betterment of women and girls (in particular!) there.

This means for those of you who were concerned about camping, fear no more! All of the accommodation will be in lodges and guest houses. The structure of the trek also means there will be less walking than before, only about 4 hours per day on average.

We need confirmation by way of deposits by the end of November and there are a few spaces left so do get in touch if you are interested!

Dream Centre Graduation!

Last Friday we were honoured and excited to attend the graduation program for the first group of girls from our pilot Dream Centre. The Centre has been open for almost 5 months and 15 girls have successfully completed the 4.5 month course covering 'skills for learning, skills for life'.

The day was a chance to share some of the things they have learned as well as a celebration of their new-found confidence and pride. Key topics covered during the program include communication, motivation, co-operation, leadership, confidence, gratitude, appreciating differences, inclusive thinking, optimism, emotion management, critical thinking, decision making and problem solving.

Some highlights of the program included a drama written by some of the girls to highlight the importance of friendship (appreciating differences, inclusive thinking and gratitude), a number of dances choreographed by the girls, and some speeches from a few of the girls on their Dream Centre experience. It really was startling to think it was the same group of girls we had met a short while ago who were then very quiet and shy. Now their determination and improved self-esteem was on display for all to see!

The program concluded with the presentation of graduation certificates and memory books which the girls had been working on during the program. The Dream Centre facilitators had included an inspiring message in each of the books as a keepsake for the girls to remember their Dream Centre experience. We also presented some small prizes for the girls who excelled in certain areas such as creativity, spelling, speaking etc.

With the second Dream Centre set to open shortly the day was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the success of the program so far as well as building excitement for it's growth in the future. A huge thank you must as always go to our three facilitators who have done an amazing job in transforming the lives of this first group of girls!

Lots happening in Kathmandu

Just a quick post as I have been off the air for a while due to internet difficulties here in Nepal! Bec and I have been here for the last 10 days or so and in that time we have been run off our feet with volunteers, workshops, meetings and lots of exciting things being planned for next year.

I'll be posting updates on each of these things in the coming days. In brief, we have had a volunteer run a two-day workshop for women journalists, two volunteers run a two-day workshop for Maths teachers, witnessed the graduation of the first group of girls from our pilot Dream Centre, finalised the location for the next Dream Centre, hosted a workshop on dreaming for graduates of our Daisy Chains project, the list goes on!

Stay tuned...