Our Dream Centre girls come together for a day of competition, sharing and learning

On 30th January, all the girls from our Dream Centres (DC) came together at Bal Mandir for an exciting event of sports competitions and inter-centre interaction.

At Mitrataa’s core is a belief in the power of networks and so bringing the girls from the different Dream Centres together to get know each other and share their ideas as well as to have some fun was a great way to build a stronger network amongst the girls. We also wanted them to play different games together to develop their cooperation skills - ultimately developing their communication skills which is one of the main life skills we focus on.


In total 31 girls from 3 different Dream Centres –our Pilot Dream Centre in Baneshwor, the Wiley Dream Centre in Chandol and the MLC Dream Centre in Koteshwor – participated in 3 different competitions: musical chairs, badminton, and a three-legged race. In musical chairs, the Baneshwor DC grabbed the first and the second prize, and Wiley came third. In badminton, the first and the third winners were from the Wiley Centre, and second was from Baneshwor. In the three-legged race, two pairs from Wiley came first and second respectively. For the third position, there was tie between two pairs from Baneshwor.


 The action-packed competitions were followed by peer discussions between girls from different centres. Each pair consisted of girls from different centres, and they spent some time together discussing themselves, their dreams and their Dream Centres. From this activity, the girls learned about the similarities and differences between the different Dream Centres.


Then, all the girls came together again to discuss how the Dream Centres can be more effective. We were really impressed with their brilliant suggestions which we will definitely incorporate into our programs.


For many of the girls who are domestic workers, getting out for the day to run around and have some fun is a real treat. We really enjoyed seeing all the girls from the centres together sharing ideas, and competing healthily. Huge thanks to Diwakar and Kamal, two of our facilitators at Dream Centres for planning this great event. Thanks to Bipana, our Dream Centre and Training Coordinator for coordinating and managing all the logistics. And big thanks to facilitators of all the centres for making it a great success.

Our First Wiley Women's Dream Centre Graduates!

Our first Women’s Dream Centre opened on International Women’s Day in 2011 with the generous support of one of our long time friends and supporters, John Wiley & Sons. The Wiley Women’s Dream Centre aims to bring together our Dream Centre model of “skills for learning, skills for life” with our Daisy Chains women’s literacy, numeracy and business skills program. The 6 focus skills are:

There are 6 modules in the program which aim to give practical context to the skills being taught. The modules are:

·         Me!

·         My family

·         Schedules

·         Shopping

·         Wellness

·         What next?

In December 2011, the first batch of women graduated from the Wiley Women’s Dream Centre amidst lots of singing and dancing. They were so excited – a very lively bunch! They wrote and sang a special song to thank everyone for their support too.  Rather than having a single MC as we do for our Dream Centre graduations, we had a “hot potato” approach – when the music stopped, the woman holding the ball had to share her experiences in the Centre with the group. This way everyone had an opportunity to share and it really showed their newfound confidence. It was fantastic to see them proudly reading their experiences from their notebooks – no more illiteracy in this group!

Thanks, Wiley, and congratulations to our wonderful women! We look forward to seeing what how they continue to work towards their dreams! The majority of them have been accepted into skills training programs to enable them to continue to develop their skills with their newfound literacy.