Mitrataa signs MOU with CSU in Australia to take our teacher training projects to the next level

We are extremely excited to announce that we have signed an MOU with Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Australia as the next phase in our teacher training program. CSU is one of Australia’s leading universities in teacher training and the first phase of our partnership is to host student teachers from Australia to complete a part of their practical training at our model school in Kathmandu, Riviera. A group of 13 student teachers from Australia will spend 2 weeks in Riviera in November this year. At the same time, they will be working on a professional development program for our Riviera and other Mitrataa teachers to brainstorm some of the core issues we face in education in Nepal – assessment, strengths based teaching, maths, learning in a second language.

One of the greatest benefits of this partnership is that the first phase puts our teachers in Nepal in the position of the “experts” or more experienced teachers. This is in line with Mitrataa’s approach of trying to create mutually beneficial relationships which encourage the Nepalis rather than forcing them into positions of seeing foreigners as the experts and depending on them for knowledge and money.

We also hope to develop some teacher training certifications with CSU so that the training we provide in Nepal through Mitrataa’s programs will provide a recognised qualification for teachers in Nepal. Most Nepali teachers have never undertaken any formal training so providing them with a recognised qualification will help increase their professionalism.

This partnership has so much potential and we are really looking forward to working with the team at CSU to explore the opportunities.

Thanks so much to Graham Tyson, a wonderful Mitrataa supporter and head of our Rotary partnership program, for the introduction; to Pam Gibbons for coming to Kathmandu to discuss how this could work; to Margaret Hamilton for her incredible support in getting this organised; and to Trisha Poole who will be leading the group of student teachers to Nepal in November.

See report in the Western Advocate for more information and a photo!

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/134131/student-teachers-help-underprivileged-kids/

Celebrating 3 years of Dream Centres!

Who can believe that it has been 3 years since we opened our first Dream Centre, the pilot centre in Baneshwor? On 5^th July 2012, we celebrated our third Dream Centre Day with 138 girls from our network of girls participating in painting murals at their schools with the theme “Let’s make our school better”. Through our 4 Dream Centres, we work with 6 different government schools and so we painted 6 murals – one at each school - to celebrate.  

1. Wiley Dream Centre - 18 girls from Dhumbarah school, 18 girls from Panchakanya school participated in the celebration

2. Baneshwor dream centre - 14 girls from Siddeshwor school, 24 girls from Bhimsengola school participated

3. Wiley Women's Dream Centre (Gyaneshwor) - 18 girls from Gyaneshwor school participated and

4. MLC Dream Centre - 46 girls from Koteshwor Saraswoti School

In the last 5 years, we have had over 300 girls graduate from our Dream Centre program, with increased confidence, self-esteem, life skills and a new network of friends to support them in their futures. The facilitators continue to give tirelessly to ensure the girls get the customised support they deserve and so much of the success comes down to the relationship the facilitators develop with the girls, giving them someone to believe in them and to trust when they need to share a challenge they are facing.

In addition to continuing to develop and learn and expand our existing Dream Centre program, we are also currently working on some exciting new things: 

1)    Passion For Life Leadership Program - We have just started a leadership program with some of our graduates from the Baneshwor Dream Centre as the next phase of this project and I am really excited to see what we achieve in this pilot program with some amazing young women. I’ll introduce you to them over the coming months with updates on this new program;

2)    Our Life Skills Manual – We have tried and tested our Life Skills Lesson Plans (and teachers’ notes) and we are in the process of revising them to include all our learnings and ideas. This will be done shortly and then we hope to publish the manual to make it available to others to learn from too;

3)    Life Skills Brainstorming – We have learned some wonderful lessons and had some great conversations about teaching life skills over the last 3 years. We’re now keen to start a broader conversation with others who are teaching these important skills so we can all share our experiences and ideas and continue the upward spiral of energy towards even greater success for the girls we work with. Our first brainstorming session will be held in Kathmandu in early August with a hand-selected group of experts in this field.

 
Huge thank you to our wonderful sponsors for the Dream Centres – Wiley and MLC. Wiley continues to be one of our most wonderful partners and we are so grateful for their support which has allowed us to do so much. Thanks to all our other great supporters too – without you, we wouldn't be here!
 
Huge thank you also to the Mitrataa team in Kathmandu, past and present. You guys continue to inspire me every day with your passion, commitment, energy and ideas.
 
Our biggest thanks to the girls we work with who put their trust in us and come to the Dream Centres with open hearts and minds. You girls are amazing and we are lucky to have you in our Mitrataa family!

I look forward to updating you on more developments soon. In the meantime, as always, thank you and please let me know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or ideas – bec@mitrataa.org.