Wiley visits us - and dream sparks fly!

Our partnership with John Wiley & Sons Publishers began over 3 years ago and is one of our most successful, exciting partnerships. Wiley’s support has enabled us to run 2 Dream Centres plus a Women’s Centre as well as contributing to our tuition team at Bal Mandir. We were very excited to welcome 5 members of Wiley’s staff for a 6 day visit to Kathmandu so they can see first hand the results of their hard work fundraising. A competition was run to select the lucky staff members and 5 staff were selected to come and spend time with Mitrataa.

We put them to work so they really had an opportunity to interact with all the people who had directly benefited from Wiley’s support over the last 3 years. They began with a workshop on confidence and interview tips with the women from the Wiley Women’s Dream Centre. A couple of the women also explained how their lives had changed as a result of being a part of the Mitrataa program. Laxmi shared how she was now able to read signs and felt much more confident in following her dreams now she could read and sign her name in English. After the workshop, she commented that “It was nice to meet some people from Wiley and to teach them a dance as a thank you for their support. They have changed my life.” We had a fun filled morning, ending with our women teaching the visitors a Nepali dance.

Then it was on to Bal Mandir Children’s Home to run a workshop on how to teach grammar through games for the tutor team which has also been supported by Wiley. The tutors work with the 100 children in the home who attend school so their role is very important. Sarita, one of the tutors who home schools one of the children, commented – “I have a list of new ideas to try with Mishra which will really help engage her and make my lessons fun.” Bipana, our Dream Centre and Training Coordinator, also attended the workshop and was brimming with ideas at the end which she plans to share with all of the Dream Centre facilitators.

The next afternoon was spent in the Wiley Dream Centre in Chandol with the current batch of girls from class 5. They taught the girls some games and conducted a drama with them. Swastika Dangal, one of the girls in the centre commented after the workshop – “Our visitors from Wiley taught us so many useful things and games. Out of all the things they taught us, I found one of the stories named ‘Two little shy pandas’ was really motivating. From that story too I understood the actual importance of avoiding shyness and fear. I always myself to build confidence. When we have speech at our centre I mostly speak first.”

The final day was spent with many of the graduates from the Wiley Dream Centres. Wiley taught the girls about what a publisher does and then the girls developed their own book about living in Nepal. The girls were so happy to be able to thank Wiley representatives in person and to learn about what Wiley does. “I thought Wiley was an old man with white hair and now I know how many people at Wiley care about us. It’s a big family. Thank you, Wiley!” shared one of the girls after the program.

Wiley surprised us with a big cheque for $11,500 at the end of the last session. We really appreciate Wiley’s wonderful support.

Mitrataa means friendship in Nepali and our friendship with Wiley has had a direct impact on over 300 people in Nepal over the last 3 years. Thanks so much, Wiley family! And thanks so much to Lisa, Maya, Cat, Angelo and Janis for your energy, passion and laughter! We really enjoyed having you here. Please come again!

 

Happy International Women's Day!

I had the honour of being awarded NSW Rotary’s Inspirational Woman of the Year Award today. What an incredible way to celebrate the girls and women of Nepal on this special day.

Below is the acceptance speech which my father read on my behalf since I was in Nepal and was not able to attend the ceremony in person.

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! Don’t forget to contact an amazing woman in your life to remind her how grateful you are for her inspiration. It will put a smile on your face as well as theirs.

With love and gratitude
Bec

 
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I have the best job in the world. I have the privilege of working with the amazing women and children of Nepal to give them the tools and opportunities to make their dreams come true. It doesn't get much better than that!

One of the secret weapons we share with the people we have the privilege of working with is the power of having a Cheer Squad – we can achieve anything we set our minds to if we believe in ourselves. But having a cheer squad of people who believe in us, who are always there to remind us of our dreams when the inevitable tough times and lessons come to challenge us, gives us an added advantage. Mitrataa’s role in Nepal is to be the cheer squad for the girls and women we work with – to believe in them, to inspire them, to show them how amazing they are.

We have been incredibly fortunate to count Rotary District 9700 as part of Mitrataa’s Cheer Squad. We love working with Rotary – the volunteers who have visited Nepal and shared their skills, time, passion and energy with our children and team members; the projects our Rotary friends have enabled us to do in the home, ranging from providing solar electricity for the children (in a country where there is up to 20 hours a day of no power, this is wonderful!), providing first aid training, painting rooms, providing new bed bases to rid the home of bed bugs (giving new meaning to the saying “Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!”), teaching some of our team and children to use a sewing machine, maintaining stairwells and lights, building a guard house, providing love and hugs for the kids, the list goes on. But above and beyond that, they have continued to believe in me personally and to inspire me constantly. This belief humbles me.

The women and children in Nepal teach me as much as I teach them. One gift they have given me is the power of gratitude. It’s impossible to feel any type of negative emotion while you are focused on being grateful for the wonderful things we have in our lives, rather than focusing on what we don't have or what frustrates us. Seriously, try it!

My Gratitude List includes all the people in Rotary who have supported us, especially to Graham Tyson and Irene Jones. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could be there to thank you in person - thank you to my Dad for accepting this Award on my behalf. I appreciate it.

I am so honoured to receive this award – and I dedicate it to the girls and women of Nepal who inspire me every day. They are amazing – and I really do have the best job in the world.