MLC Sydney - Nepal Service Project Day 1

The dust has settled in Nepal (well, as much as it does in the lead up to the beginning of the monsoon!), we have caught our breaths, and the team from MLC Sydney have returned safe and sound to Australia. We spent a truly fantastic 5 days with the group working on various service projects and we were truly inspired by the energy and enthusiasm the girls brought to each task. Visiting Nepal for the first time is exhausting enough for any tourist but when you combine that with some of the challenging sights and stories confronted by the girls during their work, it really becomes a life changing experience.

I will post an entry for each of the 5 days as each one was unique and full of fun and excitement. We also collected many great photos and movie clips and I am working on posting these to a special section on our website for everyone to see.


The group had spent the previous week trekking so day 1 of their service project was set up to allow a relatively easy transition into the week’s work, but there is nothing easy about visiting an orphanage in a country like Nepal. The girls were first introduced to a number of rooms full of orphaned children ranging in age from 2 weeks to 3 years old. I could see on many of the girl’s faces the despair as they realised that many of these kids have never known a mother or father and will probably remain in the orphanage until they are adults.

After spending some time cuddling and playing with the babies and learning more about what it means to be an orphan in Nepal, we took the group to the play room where around 40 excited kids were waiting for their ‘performance’. And what a performance it was. The girls and some of the parents and teachers had put together a brilliant program on the importance of personal hygiene and cleanliness. The opening song taught them how to say ‘hello’ in Australia – “In Australia, we say ‘G’Day, how are you going?’”. Then came a stellar performance from puppet Dr Amy who had the children in stitches of laughter. By the end of the first part the children knew exactly what to shout when asked “what are germs?”, “BAD!” came their reply. “Where are they?”, was instantly responded to with “EVERYWHERE!” “What is soap?” was immediately followed by squeals of “GOOD!”

Upon completion of Dr Amy’s presentation it was time to divide the kids into groups and they set to work on various art and craft activities related to what they had learnt. The room soon transformed into a whirl of activity pierced with cries of “more glue!” and “scissors please!” By the end of it we had all kinds of posters, drawings, find-a-words and message chains declaring the personal hygiene mantras. Once we had decorated the TV room with the artworks (as well as placing a few in choice positions outside the toilet areas) it was time to bid farewell and let the kids have their dinner.

I think everyone was sad that the afternoon had to come to an end. The success of the program was obvious by the size of the smiles on the kids’ faces thanks to an obviously huge amount of preparation and thought put into it by the MLC group. Their energy was immediately apparent and the kids picked up on this and responded in kind. It really was a life changing experience in the best possible way for everyone involved.

Pets as Therapy arrives in Nepal - Part 2

This post is a continuation of the previous entry which you can read by clicking here.

We had selected 2 adorable dogs from KAT to be the first pets as therapy mascots. Mango is a Tibetan Terrier and KAT’s own mascot after he was rescued from the street in a terrible condition. He loves people and has a very easygoing temperament. Tara is also a KAT rescuee and is paraplegic so she can only use her front 2 legs to move. This doesn’t stop her at all and she likes to think she is ‘queen bee’ in the KAT compound!

So a day after the girls from Bal Mandir had visited KAT, we piled the 2 dogs into a taxi and set off for Bal Mandir. None of us really knew what to expect so there was some trepidation in the air.

We need not have worried. The dogs showed no concern as they were lead through the big hallways of the orphanage towards a room containing around 20 kids between the ages of 1 and 3 years. The looks on the children’s faces as 2 dogs entered their playpen was priceless. There were smiles, squeals of glee, curious stares and quite a few screams of terror! None of this seemed to faze Tara and Mango as they proceeded to sniff around the place and approach anyone who seemed even remotely interested in patting them.


With a small amount of encouragement almost all of the kids began to happily pat the dogs, and even the more scared ones began to join in as they saw their friends doing it. Fortunately we had the older girls from the day before’s visit to assist in soothing the more concerned kids. To help with children who were still afraid, we read a ‘Spot’ book to them and explained that these dogs were the same as the dog in the book so there was no need to be afraid. This worked magnificently and in the end all of the children had patted the dogs at least once.

Once everyone in the playpen was calm some of the older children with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, were brought in to meet the dogs. Despite also showing some initial fear these kids quickly became much more comfortable with Tara and Mango and watching them patting the dogs and playing with them was simply beautiful. We were witnessing first hand what many studies had proven, that this type of interaction does wonders for a person’s mental state and emotional wellbeing.

The afternoon proved to be more amazing than we could have imagined and we didn’t want it to end. However after almost 2 hours of poking and prodding the dogs showed signs of tiring so we lead them back to their taxi and returned them to their home at KAT. There they were greeted with special treats and proceeded to chow down without a care in the world – it would seem it was all in a day’s work for Tara and Mango!

Pets as Therapy arrives in Nepal - Part 1

Following on from our recent visit to KAT we are excited to announce that the first Pets as Therapy project has commenced in Nepal!

Bec had spent the last few months working through a course that helped to set up such a program including how to choose appropriate dogs, how to train them, and how to teach the children the best way to treat the dogs ie. don't pull their tails!

We had chosen the orphanage at Bal Mandir as the first location to take the dogs as we have done a lot of projects there, we know the children well and were confident the staff would enjoy the idea and get involved. There are also a number of disabled children living there who we hoped would particularly benefit from the visit.

For the first stage of the project we took a group of 6 girls aged between 11 and 15 to visit the KAT centre. As we approached a big gate providing the only barrier between the girls and the sounds of many dogs barking excitedly the look of terror on their faces said it all – children in Nepal generally do not have good experiences with animals. But once the gate was opened and the girls were greeted by smiling faces and wagging tails the fear slowly began to dissipate. In fact the girls soon realised that the only danger here was having your hands slobbered all over!


Once the excitement settled down the girls were shown a small presentation on the importance of treating animals well which included some information on street dogs in Kathmandu and why this could be a problem. They were then taken on a tour of the facility which showed them the full range of problems street dogs could face but also the ways they can be treated and rehabilitated.

As the afternoon came to an end we were confident that these girls would be a great help to us as we introduced a couple of dogs to the other children at Bal Mandir. It was dinner time by the time we were driving back towards the orphanage so we decided to treat the girls to some momos at a local restaurant. As they were eating they suddenly erupted with squeals of excitement. Once they calmed down one of them was able to explain that a ‘hero’ (Nepali TV/film star) was sitting at the table opposite us! This really made their day and I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that girls in many ways were the same everywhere!!!

Stay tuned for part 2 – the day we took the dogs to Bal Mandir…

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.

Thulo April is drawing to a close

It is the last Saturday in April and I am sitting in a quiet cafe in Kathmandu trying to comprehend the most amazing month of programs we have just completed. At the beginning of this trip to Nepal we announced Thulo April 2008 meaning "big April", and it has lived up to this billing and more. Hopefully you will have read some of my recent blog entries and there are plenty more to come. With the amount of things going on in the past 2 weeks in particular Bec and I have barely had time to sleep let alone write blogs!


We have this morning bid farewell to the group of students, parents and teachers from MLC Sydney after they spent the last week doing some fantastic work in a number of different projects. Their energy and enthusiasm was inspiring and they have left a mark on the lives of many Nepalis - more on this in the coming days.

The week before last Libby Hathorn and Pat Granville Smith launched Libby's 100 Views program at the model school here. This was a huge success and we are already seeing some awesome poetry and art works coming from the students at the school as a result of this. Again, I will post more details shortly.

At the beginning of the month (which now feels like ages ago!) Janet O'Connor conducted the Women Journalists Workshop which I have written about previously and which was also a resounding success.

The best thing to come from all of these wonderful programs is that we have had the opportunity to introduce more people to Nepal. Working on all of the programs and sharing them with others has opened our eyes to even more ideas and possibilities for the future which is always a good thing.

Right now a little rest is needed but we wanted to post this entry to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of the people that have made this past month of work the huge success that it was. We thank not only those who travelled to Nepal to offer their support but also the many at home who also contributed in many ways to making this all happen. Thanks to all of you!


Stay tuned for more posts on the details of how the various programs played out...

Day with dogs and a donkey...need therapy anyone?!

Yesterday afternoon provided us with one of the most enjoyable experiences here as we visited the KAT centre, just north of Kathmandu city. KAT is an organisation that rescues street dogs, provides them with vaccinations against rabies and other health care and also gives them the ‘family planning’ operation. When appropriate, the dogs are then fostered out to families or in some instances returned to the street. Kathmandu has a relatively large street dog problem although this has noticeably reduced in the past few years thanks to the work done by KAT. It is very important work as rabies is a serious problem when you have dogs roaming the streets amongst people and particularly children. It also helps to reduce the spread of other diseases which has to be a good thing for everybody.

We are working with KAT to introduce a Pets as Therapy program to Kathmandu. You can read more about this on our website - http://www.mitrataa.org/projects/pets_as_therapy.htm. In 2 weeks time we will be taking 3 of the well trained dogs from KAT to the Bal Mandir orphanage to let a small group of children play with them. The long term plan is to have these dogs provide stimulation and support to the disabled children at the orphanage, and then to expand to other orphanages and maybe even hospitals around the valley. We will also be providing a fun education program to the kids on appropriate ways to treat animals and the importance of looking after the health of animals to protect all of us.

As a part of this project we are also helping KAT with their animal education program that they give to school groups who visit the centre. In order to help them with this work we will be taking a small bus of around 10 children to the KAT centre to see the work that they do and also to learn about the importance of this work.

When at the centre yesterday afternoon it was so much fun to see all of the rehabilitated dogs and play with them for a while. Of course there were a number of less healthy dogs and this was difficult to see. In some instances their situation was the direct result of human abuse, an extremely disappointing and frustrating thing to witness. An unusual patient at the centre is a young donkey. It was found discarded in a rubbish pile with a broken leg – the result of being overworked and underfed in a local brickworks. Its situation was dire when it was rescued however it is responding very well to treatment and is surprisingly comfortable with human contact. We are looking at various possibilities for a long term home for her and already have some great potential locations!

If you are ever in Kathmandu, a visit to KAT is well worth your while. It gives you an uplifting and rewarding experience as well as a very different insight into Nepal and its culture.

Women Journalists' Workshop

Last weekend saw the inaugural Workshop for Women Journalists which we ran in conjunction with WWJ (Working Women Journalists). Janet O’Connor, sub-editor with the Financial Review in Australia, traveled to Kathmandu to conduct the training which was attended by 18 women from various media backgrounds. The course ran over 2 half days, covering topics such as basic story construction, editing, investigative reporting and freelancing.


The passion and enthusiasm shown by the attendees was infectious, especially as Janet had them turning nursery rhymes into hard news stories and other adventurous activities! It was surprising to see that despite in many cases significant education and experience and being able to recite the theory, the women found it challenging to apply some of the principles being taught. This is a problem reflective of the education system in Nepal, where the method of teaching does not place any focus on comprehension or application but rather only on memorising facts.

The position of women in journalism is indicative of the wider situation for women in Nepal in that they are not given the same opportunities and pay as men and often struggle to be recognized as experienced, credible journalists. The women journalists we have spoken with tend to want to report on issues close to them such as children and social matters and these are things that desperately need wider coverage to raise awareness in Nepal. We will be continuing to work with WWJ to develop more expansive programs to help up skill these wonderful, inspiring women so they can help increase awareness of the issues facing women in Nepal.

Thank you so much to Janet for stepping outside her comfort zone and running this program. It was a great success and we hope to be able to continue to run more of these types of programs with her in the future.


We must give a big ‘thank you’ to Equal Access here as well. They are an NGO (non-government organisation) working in Nepal, as well as other countries, to provide greater access to information and education through community based radio programs. Equal Access provided the use of their conference room and in-house catering facilities for the 2 day course and this was a fantastic help.