Meet Tulasha - recipient of the first Roshani's Award

Roshani

In March 2014, the children of Nepal got a new angel to watch over them. Roshani Balika died at Bal Mandir, Naxal, aged 4. Roshani was a gorgeous, energetic, inquisitive young lady who unfortunately had a minor mental disability which meant she was treated differently. We were not able to protect Roshani but we vowed to ensure that her spirit lived on and that her death was not meaningless.

Roshani's Award

In Roshani’s memory, Mitrataa created “Roshani’s Award”. This scholarship would be awarded to a very special young woman who had faced discrimination due to her disabilities. When we met Tulasha Poudel in her village in a remote part of Dolakha, we knew she was the perfect recipient for the first Roshani’s Award.

Meet Tulasha

Tulasha has Down’s Syndrome. She is approximately 20 years old. Her mother and sister were killed when she was about 6 years old when their house collapsed in a landslide. Her father is hearing impaired and cannot care for her. She lived with her neighbour and just sat idle at home with no support, interactions or care.

We spoke with Tulasha’s father and the community and discussed the possibility of bringing Tulasha to Kathmandu to teach her some life skills and independence so she can take care of herself in future. They agreed.

Tulasha visits Kathmandu

Initially, we brought Tulasha to Kathmandu in April 2014 for a health check-up and to see how she liked it. She came with her uncle and father. After a successful health check-up, we gave her a bath, bought her some new clothes and gave her some good meals. We sent them back to the village while we worked on a solution for accommodation and support in Kathmandu.

In May 2014, Pushpa and Asbini went back to Dolakha to check on Tulasha. The village’s attitude towards her had changed and they were now caring for her more actively although she still needed a lot more care and teaching to become independent.

Finding a solution for Tulasha in Kathmandu

Tulasha with Bec and Ranju

We needed to find a supportive, caring and creative environment for Tulasha in Kathmandu to achieve the aims of her scholarship – independence for her in future. We explored options in hostels in Special Needs Schools and in the Downs Syndrome Society of Nepal. Unfortunately, we were not confident in their ability to be able to deliver our stretching objectives.

This process took a long time but became particularly urgent after the earthquake in April 2015 when Tulasha’s house was destroyed and her family had nothing left. We finally found the perfect solution – one of our Mitrataa girl’s mother was looking for a job and she is a natural working with disabled students. Her house had collapsed in the earthquake and she had nowhere to stay with her 2 young children and no job. We organised a new room for her to live in and offered to pay her rent and a salary if she would take care of Tulasha and teach her the skills she needed to move towards independence. We are very grateful that Babita agreed and Ashwini went to Dolakha to bring Tulasha to Kathmandu. She will visit her family in Dolakha a few times a year to maintain contact with them and ensure she can return to her community in future.

Tulasha’s journey towards independence begins

Three months have passed and Tulasha has settled in incredibly well with Babita and her family. She has learned to bath herself, wash her dishes and her clothes, to say her name and where she is from as well as to greet people.

People with Down’s Syndrome are generally left in a corner of a home with no support or opportunities in Nepal. Disabilities here are not well understood or respected and Tulasha has been great at teaching people that she has wonderful passion for life, an ability to learn and a huge heart. Not only has she learned a lot, but she has taught all members of the Mitrataa family about tolerance and understanding and we have already seen this message being passed on to others in the extended Mitrataa family.

The road towards independence for Tulasha is long and full of twists and turns. But she has started her journey and embraced it completely. With Babita by her side, we are confident that in a few years, Tulasha will be able to live independently with a support network around her.

Huge thanks to Ashwini, Bandana, and of course Babita for their support and passion for Tulasha. We know that Roshani would be smiling knowing that her memory lives on and has given Tulasha the opportunity for a better future.

Remember the beginning of a new school year . . . it's that time in Nepal!

Remember the beginning of a new school year with all its promises and opportunities – the new school shoes (not so pleasant with the resulting blisters!), the shiny new text books, the new exercise books waiting to be filled with lessons and learning. It’s the beginning of the new school year in Nepal and the kids are all settling in to their new classes. Most don’t get a new school uniform or stationery and for many students text books are something to be dreamed of.

Dream Catchers meets Dream Centres

Mitrataa is continuing our very successful Dream Catchers Scholarship Program this year but we have expanded it – we’ve put our Dream Centre life skills model into a school bag and now all of our scholarship girls get life coaching as well as their education support. There is a lack of career counselling and life skills support in schools in Nepal and as the girls we support get older, we believe that the best support we can offer them is to provide them with a tool box of skills to achieve their dreams. We did this for our Dream Centre graduates and now we are expanding it to cover all our scholarship girls.

Education is a tool to open doors

One of the most common myths in Nepal, started by parents and continued in schools, is that “Education is the key to success.” We disagree – education is a tool which helps us achieve success. WE are the key to our own success – it is our own actions and the way we take advantage of opportunities presented to us that determine our success or otherwise. We teach the children that we can help them to open doors, as education can, but that they have to themselves walk through the door and grab their dreams themselves. Through our Dream Catchers Scholarships, we open the door, and through our coaching program, we motivate and inspire the children to walk through it.

How you can help open doors

We now have 2 levels of scholarships:

1)   Standard Dream Catchers Scholarship

This is our usual model of scholarship program which covers school fees, books, stationery, uniforms and basic medical support for the student. This cost remains at $360 per year. In return, in addition to knowing you’re giving a girl a schoolbag full of life skills and opportunities as well as an education, you will also receive a photo of the lucky girl, some background information about her and her school reports so you can track her progress.

2)   Dream Catchers Hostel Scholarship

Since we had to end our Bal Mandir Naxal Children’s Home project, we wanted to continue to support as many of the children as possible. As a result, we successfully reunited 25 of the children with their families who agreed to discharge them from Bal Mandir. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to escape the label that comes with being from a children’s home and allows them to be a part of their extended families again. In return, we agreed to continue supporting their education in the same schools to minimise disruption to the children’s education. We enrolled the children into the school hostels, so they live at school during the term time.

This costs more as it is residential so includes their food, lodging, extra tuition and other costs – basically it is the entire cost of taking care of the children for the year. The cost of these scholarships is $2,000 per year per child and we have 25 children who need support. You’ll receive the satisfaction of knowing you helped reunite a child with their family and supporting their education, as well as photos, background information, and report updates on their progress. We have a number of options for these scholarships:

·         Individual sponsor - $2,000 – this is obviously the best option for us as it keeps our admin of managing numerous sponsors down and covers all of the girl’s costs. It can be paid in instalments over the year;

·         “Circle of friends” sponsorship - $2,000 - some people are putting together a group of friends and raising the complete amount as a “circle of friends” sponsorship. We have seen a number of people organise a monthly get together with friends at someone’s house (taking turns around the group) and they donate the cost of the meal they would usually have eaten out to the scholarship fund to support a girl. Over the year, many groups have found they actually raise enough to sponsor 2 children! Not only does this support a girl’s future and education, it also gives you an excuse to catch up with friends for a good cause once a month!

·         Group sponsorship - $360 each - otherwise, if people want to stick with their $360 a year amount, we can put sponsors together so each girl has a couple of sponsors to cover the costs.

Don’t forget for our Aussie sponsors, this amount is tax deductible – so with FYE just around the corner, please consider giving the gift of an education to a child in Nepal. You’ll be changing someone’s world!