Inspiring Children's Day full of excitement, creativity, talent and the launch of "Sangita's Singing" children's book

The Mitrataa family celebrated Children’s Day this year in a style core to what we do – with creativity and the incredible talents of our children as the focus. We hosted 3 wonderful programs at our Wiley Dream Centre in collaboration with Dream Catchers Nepal, our local partner. The theme – “Our nation, our pride” – inspired a lot of positive celebration of the great talents and beauty of Nepal.
 

1)    Inspirations Awards – “Celebrating creative thinking in Nepal’s children” – we invited all our partner schools to participate in this art, poetry and story writing competition and we had entries from 15 of the invited schools which was wonderful. There is some real talent in our group with some very impressive writing and drawing. The English poetry and story writing competition was judged by Libby Hathorn, well-known Australian children’s author. The art competition was judged by Barbara Jones, and Australian artist and art teacher. The Nepali story writing and poetry competitions were judged by Saroj Dhungana, Nepali poet and journalist. Entries were judged in advance and prizes were awarded on the day. We plan to publish a book with the winning entries as a celebration of the creativity of the children. The winners were invited to special workshops the next day hosted by Libby and Barbara to continue their creative journeys.

 

2)  Mitrataa’s Got Talent – A dance and drama competition amongst our partner schools really showcased our children’s talents! After a fierce competition, our judges, Ajit Aryal (director of Achel theatre) for the drama and Birendra tamanag (dance teacher) for the dance, announced the winners. The acts all really brought our theme to life and our visiting guest judges got a true taste of Nepal’s talent!

 

3)  Launch of “Sangita’s Singing” children’s book – Libby Hathorn is an award winning Australian children’s author who has written over 50 books! She first visited Nepal with Mitrataa in 2008 to run the 100 Views program at Riviera. During that trip, she was inspired to write a story about a girl from the village who comes to Kathmandu to study and her journey towards literacy through the challenges of being bullied and a long way from home. The story was illustrated by Bandana Tulachan, an up and coming Nepali illustrator who is currently completing her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Kathmandu University Center for Art and Design. After a long journey, the book is finally complete and was formally launched on Children’s Day at our Nepali pride celebration. It looks fantastic and we are so excited. Two students read an extract from the book, supported by 2 girls acting out a scene at the launch.

 

     Libby has very generously donated all profits from the sale of the book to support Mitrataa’s work. Sangita’s Singing will soon be available through Mitrataa’s website – www.mitrataa.org – for A$25 (+P&H) so please order your copy for a loved one this Christmas and enjoy the wonderful story while knowing you are also supporting the dreams of the girls like Sangita who are supported by Mitrataa in Nepal. We will also be selling copies in Nepal and working with schools here to use the story as an educational tool as it covers so many wonderful themes – the importance of education, rural v city life, bullying, using your strengths to overcome challenges. Thank you so much to Libby who is a great supporter of Mitrataa. We are incredibly grateful to have you as part of the Mitrata family.

 

So huge thanks to our judges for their time and energy and especially to Libby and Barbara for travelling so far and for running the workshops on Saturday too. Thanks to all the schools and the kids who participated in a fantastic celebration of what is some amazing about Nepal – the level of talent and passion was wonderful!

And the biggest thanks to the Mitrataa team for all your hard work in organising this fantastic day which gave us an opportunity to showcase the work we do and the talent of the kids we have the privilege of working with. Without your hard work, none of it would have been possible. While every member of the team was involved, special thanks must go to Bipana and Ganga for leading the organisation for the Inspirations Award and to Subina for leading the organisation of the Mitrataa’s Got Talent competition. Thank you so much.

Libby Hathorn inspires our girls with poetry

Well-known Australian children’s author, Libby Hathorn, has been a wonderful supporter of Mitrataa for a long time now, beginning with her support of 100 Views Kathmandu in 2008. She visited Kathmandu again in November, with her friend Sandra, to again share her creativity with us. In addition to working with the illustrator of her children’s book called Sangita’s Singing which was inspired by her first visit in 2008, she is also exploring a short film based on the book to help raise funds for Mitrataa. She managed to fit in time to run a poetry workshop for some of the girls at Bal Mandir and we were very happy (but not surprised!) to discover that we have some budding poets in our midst! The girls all threw themselves into the workshop as they imagined themselves as a river flowing down through the Himalayas and then explored the sounds, smells, sights of the river’s journey to write poems.

Thanks, Libby, for all your support and energy. You are an inspiration!

100 Views on TV in Melbourne

Just a quick post to let those of you in Melbourne know that Libby Hathorn's 100 Views Kathmandu documentary will be screening on Community TV channel 31 at 8:30pm this Sunday, 31st January.

The documentary chronicles Libby's visit to Kathmandu in 2008 where she introduced her 100 Views program to our Model School. It provides some background to the program and Mitrataa and also shows lots of footage of the people of Nepal. You may remember the documentary was launched at a huge fundraising event in Sydney in November 2008.

Tune in if you are home and let your friends know too!

Adam Speaks at UWC in Singapore

On Tuesday (24th February) I visited the students in Grade 5 at United World College South East Asia (UWCSEA) in Singapore. The visit was the result of a discussion with one of our friends here whose son, Dash Baldwin, attends the school. The school is an IB school and his class had already been supporting an organisation in Nepal for some time as part of their global concern program. The organisation is CWIN (Child Workers in Nepal) which works with child domestic labourers in Nepal, a problem that I have mentioned in a number of previous posts and that we deal with every day through Dream Catchers and other programs.

We thought the class might enjoy hearing from someone who works in Nepal and we also took the opportunity to show some of the 100 Views Kathmandu documentary. Dash introduced me to the other students and he gave an excellent run down on Mitrataa and what we do – he had obviously taken a good look at our website and prepared very well! Next I had invited a number of students to prepare questions they could ask me so that the session was as helpful and relevant for them as possible. A number of them came up on stage with some very inquisitive questions for me; for example:

• how many child workers are there in Nepal? (about 100,000)
• how many kids live on the streets in Nepal? (about 5,000)
• what is the standard of education in Nepal? (pretty good for those who can afford it)
• how young are the children when they become domestic labourers? (can be as young as 3 but typically about 8-10)


I then briefly introduced the 100 Views program and how it tied in with the work we did with our model school and teacher training in Nepal. I explained that most teaching in Nepal is still very much based on a rote learning model and that we were working to try and change this.

It was then time to show the documentary. I could tell that the kids were engaged as they were quiet the whole time and I often heard gasps as they saw scenes of children collecting rubbish, carting large baskets on their heads, sitting in tiny classrooms with dirt floors. I think the whole presentation was well received and I certainly enjoyed the visit. We are exploring ways that some of the Grade 5 classes may be able to have an ongoing connection with some of their peers in Nepal, most likely at the model school.

I want to thank Dash for his fantastic introduction and to his teacher, Kari Twedt, for welcoming me and being so helpful with arranging everything to make the session such a great success! Thanks also to all the Grade 5 students who showed such an interest and inspired me with the involvement they already have with Nepal and their desire and eagerness to learn and do even more.

Mitrataa in the news!

Below are clippings from 2 Eastern Suburbs local papers covering the recent launch of 100 Views Kathmandu. You can click on the photo to make it larger and easier to read the print.

Amazing documentary launch!

Last Tuesday evening (18th November) saw the culmination of months of work both in Sydney and in Kathmandu with the launch of the 100 Views Kathmandu documentary. The event was held at The Ritz in Randwick and we had the pleasure of sharing the evening with over 200 friends and supporters. Jessica Rowe added a touch of class to the evening in graciously donating her time to act as MC.

As many of you will know, 100 Views is a celebration of community through the arts, a program devised for schools by children's author Libby Hathorn. Libby travelled with her friend, Pat Granville Smith, to Kathmandu earlier in the year and together they introduced 100 Views to the teachers and students at our Model School, Riviera International Academy. You can read more about their trip including some blog postings by visiting our website. You can read more about 100 Views in general by visiting the website.

Libby arranged a film crew to document her journey in Kathmandu and the result was the fantastic film we were able to enjoy last Tuesday. The film covered a host of topics including the history of the 100 Views program and the introduction of it to Nepal, but more importantly for us it wove this into the story of Mitrataa and our work to help women and girls in Nepal. This meant that the evening provided a great opportunity for us to spread the word of the plight of people in Nepal and the ways people in Australia can help.

Michelle Kline from Randwick City Library Service did an amazing job in planning the event and managing everything on the night. This really was a huge job and I don't think any of us really understand how much work was involved. All that is left is to say a huge "thanks" to Michelle for her dedication and work, and also to the library and Randwick City Council for their support. The Council was extremely generous in covering the costs of the evening so that all proceeds from ticket sales went directly to Mitrataa!

There was a hotly contested raffle during the evening with some fantastic prizes - a 42inch plasma TV, a weekend at Lilianfels in the Blue Mountains, and a dozen bottles of wine. We must give a hugh thank you to the sponsors for these prizes - Phil Favero The Good Guys, Premier Capital Developments and Time Recruitment.

By the end of the evening we were completely exhausted and overwhelmed by the amount of support being shown throughout, not to mention getting over the shock of seeing ourselves on the "big screen" for the first time! It really was so inspiring and motivating to see so much interest and support being generated. Of course our biggest thanks must go to Libby who dared to dream by taking 100 Views to Nepal in the first place. Then to also film the whole thing and produce a documentary that lead us to such a brilliant evening last Tuesday well, it doesn't seem enough but thanks Libby!

As a result of the contribution and work of people like Libby and Michelle, the Foundation raised almost $8,000.00 on the night! The best part is that more donations and offers of support and volunteering are still coming in so the sky now really is the limit! Thanks to everyone who shared the evening with us and also thanks to the many others I have not mentioned here who helped to make the evening such a great success!

Great things happening

There hasn't been much time for reflection during my visit to Australia but I thought I would just take a minute to put down a few of the great things that have been going on for the Foundation.

As a result of the fantastic evening Libby Hathorn hosted at her home recently I have met some more very inspiring and positive people who are now helping Mitrataa along with Libby. In particular Michelle Kline and Joanne Fedler have been so generous with their ideas and their time. Michelle works for the Randwick City Library Service and she has co-ordinated the donation of a large number of children's books from the library. We will take these books to Nepal for use in the library at the Model School. Michelle is also working with Joanne and Libby on a launch event for a documentary on Libby's recent trip to Kathmandu to introduce the 100Views Art & Literacy program there. More news on that event once details are finalised. Joanne is an author (check out her website) and she has written the most touching piece about Mitrataa and put it on her blog which you can read by clicking here.

These three women truly are inspirational to Bec and I and we want to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their support, it really does mean a lot to us and we are so grateful.

I have spoken at a couple more Rotary club evenings and was presented with a cheque for $500.00 from the Castle Hill club last night. This was most unexpected and I must give a big "thanks" to the club and also to Rhonda Radford for introducing me to the club. Rhonda's daughter, Sarah, is one of the directors of Mitrataa and I fear she will soon be spending her days collecting donations of books, clothes and toys to be shipped to Kathmandu!

So as you can see its all systems go for Mitrataa at the moment. I have plenty more engagements in Sydney and then it won't be long before Bec and I are back in Kathmandu following up on all of the projects - exciting times!

In Australia

After an absolutely amazing and exhausting 3 months in Nepal, and a quick 2 week visit home to Shanghai, I am now in Australia following up on all of the projects and doing some fundraising and admin work.

I have given presentations to a number of companies and Rotary Clubs with more to come in the next 2 weeks. I also had the pleasure of attending a dinner that was held by our good friend and supporter Libby Hathorn. Libby visited Kathmandu with her friend, Pat Granville Smith, and together they launched 100Views Art & Literacy at the Model School there. You can read more about this on our blog by clicking here. Libby arranged for a documentary to be filmed chronicling the experience and part of the purpose for the dinner was to generate interest in that. The documetary should be finished soon and we expect it to be a fantastic tool for raising the profile of 100Views as well as Mitrataa. There was a group of just over 30 people at the dinner and I had the opportunity to speak at length about the history of Mitrataa, our current projects, and some of our ideas and dreams for the future. We then held an open forum in which people were able to throw out ideas for fundraising, projects, and ways that they and others could become involved. It really was an inspiring and uplifting evening and I left with my head buzzing with new ideas and even more motivation.

A huge "thank you" must go to Libby and to Pat (who I have now discovered is a brilliant chef!) for hosting the evening and catering for it so well. So many possibilities and opportunities have already come out of it for which we are very grateful.

With many more presentations, meetings and functions to attend in the next 2 weeks I am sure there will be much more news as 2008 continues to be our most exciting and successful year so far!

100 Views Kathmandu

Libby Hathorn’s 100 Views has arrived in Kathmandu! Recently Libby and her friend, Pat Granville Smith, visited us in Nepal and together we introduced the 100 Views program to the model school. You can read more about the program itself at the 100 Views website – http://www.100views.com.au and also on our website - http://www.mitrataa.org/projects/100views.htm.


The program is a celebration of the arts through a local icon so fittingly we chose Mt Everest for the first run of the program in Nepal. From our perspective the program also provides a great opportunity to work with school teachers in Nepal to develop more creative and learner centered methods of teaching which fits in perfectly with the training we have been conducting over the last 6 months with the model school.

Libby and Pat spent 3 days with the teachers from the model school leading them through workshops for teaching both poetry and art. This turned out to be a more amazing experience for the teachers than we could have imagined. In a group of 21 teachers we discovered that only 2 of them had ever held a paintbrush! Imagine their joy and excitement as Pat had them sketching, painting and on the last day building a paper mache model of Mt Everest. Libby conducted the poetry workshops and she had the teachers performing different poems as well as creating their own – again a definite first for the majority of the teachers. According to one teacher, before the workshops he thought that poetry was something you did if you were bored in your spare time, not something so powerful and creative!

We know that the program was an instant success as on the 4th day we held a launch event at the model school and we were inundated with teachers and students wanting to read their poems to the entire school! Such enthusiasm is exactly what these programs are all about and I don’t think Libby and Pat could ever have been prepared for the gusto with which the teachers took to their work.


The next step in the program involves the teachers passing on their knowledge to their students and helping the school to collectively assemble a body of work that celebrates Mt Everest and its meaning to the school and the wider community. This will then culminate in a festival to celebrate 100 Views of Mt Everest and we will be posting the poetry, art and other works to the 100 Views website so that it can be viewed by children all around the world. We are also working to develop a regular connection between the students of the model school and school students in Australia so that they can both benefit from sharing their ideas and thoughts as well as their art.


As if conducting this program was not enough Libby had also arranged a documentary crew to record the entire thing so that 100 Views Kathmandu and our work through Mitrataa might be viewed by even more people. Stay tuned for details as to where you might see the finished documentary!

We really must say a big “thank you” to Libby and Pat for all of their hard work to introduce this program to Nepal – we are honoured that Libby agreed to run the first 100 Views program outside Australia in Nepal. The program has provided invaluable teaching skills and ideas to the teachers and I am sure it will be a huge hit with the students too. Neither woman had been to Nepal previously and they dealt with all the excitement and challenges that this country throws at you with great humour and compassion. We hope this will be the start of another wonderful long term friendship between Nepal and Australia.