Democracy Debates – St Catherine’s spends time with Riviera

Is ‘democracy’ different in practice in Australia and Nepal? Is it perceived differently? And how does an election work anyway?

Performing their "I feel" poems

These were some of the questions explored by class 10 at Riviera, our model school, and a group of visiting girls from St Catherine’s in Sydney. We began with an afternoon of activities to get to know each other, including the groups writing a poem titled “I feel” and performing them for the rest of us.

After Republic Day celebrations in Nepal, the visitors then returned to Riviera for a full day of democracy exploration. The morning began with considering some general questions about democracy and constitutions, including definitions and advantages and limitations. It was interesting to see the similarities between what Australian students learn and Nepali lessons on these crucial concepts – notions of human rights, respect, civil engagement. But there were also some interesting differences, particular in relation to the way government representatives should be elected and how a constitution is drafted. In Nepal, the constitution is in the hands of the government alone contrasted with the right of citizens to vote on any changes to the constitution in Australia.


Australia v Nepal - Democracy in practice

We then moved in to exploring democracy in practice, considering questions such how democracy represents minority groups and what 1 change the students would make to their constitution if they could. Both the visitors from Australia and the Riviera students had some good questions for their other group members and there were some very interesting conversations.

 

It was then time to experience democracy with a mock election for “Nepaust” – the groups had to launch a campaign and then vote with a very closely contested election going right down to 5^th preferences. 

Counting the votes in the Nepaust Elections



The day finished with a thank you presentation from the Riviera principal, Prajwal Koirala, and his team.

 

And the winner is . . . .

A week later, Riviera held their elections for school captain and vice captains, enabling class 10 to put into practice the skills they learned with St Catherine's. It also gave them the chance to share their learnings with the rest of the school as they got the opportunity to exercise their right to vote for their student representatives.

Sujata casts her vote

 

Salik, Riviera's new school captain

St Catherine’s has been working with Mitrataa for 5 years now, sending a group of volunteers to work with our Dream Centres, sharing life skills lessons and ideas. Due to the limited English of the girls in the Dream Centres, these interactions have been engaging but restricted in terms of sharing and learning. This year was the first time they have worked with Riviera and it was great to see some debates and deeper discussions being shared amongst the students. It always amazes me the similarities between teenagers across the globe – particularly where music choices are concerned!

 

Thanks as always to Sarah Hatch, who leads the fundraising efforts at St Catherine’s and who leads the group to Nepal each year. It is always a pleasure working with you, Sarah. Thanks also to the teams at Riviera and Mitrataa who helped to prepare for the workshops.

 



Sarah Hatch receives a thank you from Nirmala

Sharing our gifts with the world!



Simon (left) and Chitiz showing their passion for dance

As you know, at Mitrataa we believe every single one of us has a gift to offer the world – we just have to find it, practise it (not such a challenge when it is something we enjoy doing!) and work out how to share it to inspire others.  

 

With the children we work with in Nepal, we work with them to identify their gifts, passions and strengths, and then we build on these. Simon for example, is a natural dancer. It is his way of expressing himself and he does it beautifully. Sabitri has the most incredible voice. It is a privilege to listen to her sing (unfortunately her current favourite songs are all One Direction!). Rebina loves to draw and can often be found sketching. Each child is different – but each has a gift. Once we identify these gifts, encouraging the children to develop these gifts also provides motivation for them with their studies and dealing with other challenges in life. It builds their resilience and their confidence.

 

Sabitri opens her heart through her singing

The same principle applies with fundraising, which is why we set our supporters our Passion Challenge – to use your passion or strengths to raise money for Mitrataa, and build your resilience and confidence at the same time. This is exactly what Aidan has been doing. He will be visiting us in Nepal in March with his father, Myron. Aidan is a passionate 14-year old basketballer. So what better way to raise money than to shoot hoops? And so he set himself a challenge – he would shoot one hoop for each dollar donated to Mitrataa. He has already exceeded his target of $1,000 and is preparing to shoot his 1,000 hoops soon. But let’s challenge him to shoot even more – there is still time to donate and raise his total. You can donate online at:

https://give.everydayhero.com/au/shooting-hoops-for-mitrataa

 

 

 

So what are you doing to discover your special gift, your talents, strengths and passions? Don’t keep them to yourselves. Share them with the world. And if you need an excuse, you can take our Passion Challenge and raise money for us at the same time, exactly as Aidan has. Have fun! And thanks so much, Aidan. Can’t wait to have you with us here in a few months!

 

Aidan practises for his "Shooting Hoops for Mitrataa" Passion Challenge

 

 

CSU students get the opportunity to practise their flexibility!

Sabitri arguing in favour of tourism

We are very excited to have our second group of CSU students here, continuing our partnership with CSU this year. There are 10 students completing some practical training with Mitrataa for a month. They are accompanied again this year by Trisha Poole and we are very happy to have her back in Kathmandu.

The group was due to start teaching at Riviera, our model school, this week but unfortunately they arrived at the beginning of 10 days of strikes in the lead up to the election here. We had warned them to bring their flexibility and their senses of humour and they have had lots of opportunities to practise both!

Since Riviera was closed due to the strike, the group worked at our hostel, running a debating training and competition for the senior girls and some English reading and grammar and maths for the younger children. Some of the group also spent some time with class 10 at Riviera since they live on the school campus.



Preparing rebuttal!

The children have learned so much and I was incredibly proud of them during the debate competition on Friday on the topic, "Tourism is good for Nepal". We have some definite talent in our group. Thanks to the CSU group for their coaching and training, especially to Rohan for teaching them the skills of a great debate..



We look forward to the rest of their time here, with some time at Riviera and a few more days at the hostel. We really love our partnership with CSU and hope to continue to grow and expand it in future.


The debaters with their coaches from CSU

Passionate Success – the first Humani’Trail raises money in Switzerland to support Mitrataa and other organisations in Nepal

I am so lucky to have some amazing experiences working with Mitrataa. Last week was no exception. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to say a huge THANK YOU to 4 very important members of the Mitrataa family – Cedric, Sophie, Atal and Cedric’s mother.

Let me explain! I first met Cedric and Sophie in 2011 when they adopted their son, Atal, from Bal Mandir Children’s Home, which we were managing at the time. The universe is very clever and Cedric and Sophie are the perfect parents for Atal – they are very active and Atal NEVER stops!

About this time last year, I set all of our supporters the Passion Challenge – to raise money to support Mitrataa using one of their passions. Cedric, Sophie and Atal took up the challenge and this September they successfully hosted the first Humani’Trail. In Cedric’s words:

“Humani’Trail has been deeply inspired by Mitrataa’s program : “Passion Challenge”. The idea was to raise funds through a common passion, ours is Trail running. The link between this sport and Nepal is already very strong due to the geography but also thanks to our friend Dawa Dachiri Sherpa from Solukhumbu in Nepal who is an icon in his discipline with several major wins for the past 15 years and also participated twice to Winter Olympic Games where he was the first representative for Nepal. Based on these points, we decided to find a municipality in Switzerland ready to host a new race that will donate 100% of registration fees to humanitarian projects (Mitrataa being one of them). Very quickly, we got a very positive relationship with ‘Les Diablerets’, an alpine village 80km away from Geneva with typical Swiss chalets, beautiful mountain lakes and impressive views on the highest alpine peaks. After 10 months of a very strong engagement from the organization team, 400 runners finally went on September 21st to the 1st Humani’Trail which finally generated close to 30’000 AUD (25'000 Swiss Francs) !

While several top competitors were there, two Nepalese runners finally won the main 50km trail (Manikala Rai for women and Sangé Sherpa for men) which is a fantastic symbol for our action. A second edition of the race is already planned by September 27, 2014 in order to sustain our support to children in Nepal. Thanks Bec for this great idea that clearly changed our live forever !”

Last week, they visited our hostel in Nepal to give us the opportunity to say thank you so much for taking the Passion Challenge with such an inspiring result. We loved having you in our hostel and seeing how much Atal has grown! The children were very inspired to hear about your passion and the hard work you put in to achieving your goal. The money they raised for Mitrataa will be used to support our hostel which is home to a group of ex-Bal Mandir children.

Thank you to everyone who supported the first Humani’Trail event! You are amazing people and we are proud to have you as a part of the Mitrataa family! We look forward to a long lasting relationship with you and with Humani’Trail.

Happy Dashain!

Happy Rashmi Day!

I love traditions, rituals, especially when they allow us to take time to reflect on how lucky we are.

Thank you, Rashmi! We are so grateful for everything you do!

On 18^th September, with the help of our volunteer, Niki, we started a new tradition in Mitrataa – Rashmi Day! This was our opportunity to say thank you to Rashmi for everything she does for us. It’s difficult to explain Rashmi’s role in Mitrataa – basically, we would be lost without her, she is mother to us all!



Happy Rashmi Day, Rashmi!

Rashmi joined our team when we took over Bal Mandir 2 ½ years ago. She had been working with NCO for several years so knew all the kids and the ways of the home intimately. In October 2012, she was promoted to our Leadership Team. When we left Bal Mandir in April 2013, we asked Rashmi to help us open our new hostel for the kids who had been discharged from Bal Mandir into our care. We were extremely happy that she agreed and she has become our mother hen, responsible for the daily running of the hostel, for being a mother to the kids, for keeping us all in line. And always with a smile and a giggle. Rashmi Day is a celebration of everything Rashmi is to us all – a chance for her to be spoilt for the day while the kids did everything for her.

 

 

 

Rashmi, we are incredibly lucky to have you. On behalf of the kids and all members of the Mitrataa family, thank you for everything you do for us! We look forward to celebrating Rashmi Day next year too!

 

Nikita Simpson has spent a month with us, inspiring the kids with her teaching, workshops and energy along the way. Before arriving in Nepal, Niki raised over $9,000 to support Mitrataa too. We really enjoyed having her here and are honoured she is a part of the Mitrataa family. Thanks, Niki! Come back soon, we miss you already.

 
 


Niki taught the kids to tie-dye t-shirts

Fancy a trip to Nepal? or been and want to come again? Now's your chance for an armchair trip and to support Mitrataa at the same time!

Nepal is a naturally photogenic country; from majestic mountains to narrow, urban alleyways. Experience Nepal in all its glory through our exclusive new book, photographed and produced by Linda Jocelyn, the photographer who taught the girls photography through Project Snow Leopard.

In this limited edition of 100, 23cm x 23cm, individually numbered and autographed books,
you can marvel at the beauty of Nepal from the comfort of your home. For a preview, please see http://previews.onlineprogallery.com.au/gallery/?cpid=1232373&auth=51578034531396.41877661

The book costs A$100 (plus P&H depending on where you are - for Sydney, Blue Mountains, and a few other areas in NSW we will deliver it to you for free).

Please order now - once we reach 100, there will be no more! All profits from sale of the book go to directly to Mitrataa to support our work in Nepal.

To place an order or for more information, please contact email Emily - Emily@mitrataa.org - and she'll send you an order form. 

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Thanks so much to Linda for her generous work in supporting Mitrataa's work in Nepal.

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