Graduations and Dreams Galore

It’s my favourite time of the session – our Dream Centre graduations! We had 3 centres operating this session – the MLC Dream Centre in Koteshwor, the Wiley Dream Centre in Chandol and the Baneshwor Dream Centre. And as always, the girls put on a wonderful show in each centre for their Graduation Days. The girls host the events, complete with MC roles (one in English, one in Nepali). Bipana, our Dream Centre & Training Co-ordinator, conducts Anchor Training to help them prepare for this big responsibility. They all did a wonderful job and the singing and dancing and sharing of their experiences and dreams was inspiring as always.
Some highlights:

• At the Wiley Dream Centre, we had a very creative bunch this session. They wrote many of the songs and poems performed at the graduation themselves. They are a very confident and determined group who showcased many of the life skills they have learned at the Dream Centre in their graduation activities. I was very impressed. We had a number of employers (of the girls who work as domestic workers) attend the graduation which is always a credit to the facilitators’ work in managing all our stakeholders.

• At the Baneshwor Dream Centre, for the first time ever, one of the girls translated my short speech to the girls for me! Usually one of the team translates but I was thrilled to have one of the girls translate for me. This is a very difficult task but a wonderful skill for her to have. A very impressive young woman – thanks, Saraswoti! This group LOVE to dance too – we struggled to get them off the dance floor at the end. A couple of the girls came to the MLC graduation too and performed their dance again! One of the girls’ teachers attended and was very positive about the impact of the program on the girls’ attitudes and performance at school.

• At the MLC Dream Centre, we have a group of future Bollywood stars! Many of the girls had already gone home to the village for the holidays so there were only 6 girls present but they still put on a huge show for us. They performed a drama about abuse and survival very confidently. They performed it a second time for some later comer guests – and it was the same concepts, the same general plot but completely adlibbed. A wonderfully confident group who will survive whatever life throws at them. The principal of the school where the girls study is a great supporter of our program and he noted at the graduation that the improved confidence and performance of the girls was very strong.

Our facilitators did a wonderful job – I am constantly amazed at the results they achieve in the girls who come to our Dream Centres. They are a fantastic team who keep pushing themselves to achieve more and more. Well done, team. Fantastic graduations as always. So congratulations to the girls and we look forward to keeping in touch with them through our network events and to welcoming the new group of girls in a few weeks!