Some challenges but more good stuff happening!

It has been an interesting few days in Kathmandu so far, trying to get work done with electricity supply sporadic at best. It seems the best time to try and do any work is between 4am and 8am most mornings as this is when you can get a fairly reliable charge for the laptop and the internet should stay connected! Unfortunately this is not the only difficulty people here are facing right now as we have just seen the end of an 18 day garbage collection strike!

Still, we have managed to make some good progress with new projects for 2009. The first of these involved Rebecca presenting at a forum on the future of the pashmina industry in Nepal. We have been working with Nepal Pashmina Industry Association (NPIA) for some time helping them with trade mark registrations and general branding advice. (Read more about this at our website.) We wanted to take this further as pashmina is one of the industries with the best potential for Nepal. The forum brought together industry specialists including scientists from the Nepal Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and collectively we have started working towards a strategy to improve the processing infrastructure for the industry. This will include a large education component for women in the key areas where pashmina goats are farmed. These areas are typically high up in the Himalayas and quite poor, with little education and basically a subsistence lifestyle. The research carried out so far suggests that with a small amount of targeted input we will be able to make some big inroads into providing education and training opportunities for the women and girls in these areas. Stay tuned for more as this project takes shapes during the year.

The electricity situation has made blog updates very difficult but we have been ‘on the go’ for the entire week and we will post the updates as and when we can!

Update on the situation in Nepal

As Bec and I pack our things for another visit to Nepal we have been reading some news articles that have left us feeling somewhat ambivalent about the situation there. The maoist-led government have been in power now for around 8 months and last week saw the launch of their very ambitious campaign to provide basic literacy skills to the 8 million adults in Nepal who currently are unable to read or write. It is a huge undertaking and involves thousands of volunteers working as teachers. The project has not been without hiccups as there has still been the problem of getting the necessary text books to the more remote regions of the country. This is a problem that occurs every year with school text books as schools outside the major urban areas often have to wait half the year to receive the curriculum and books for that year!

To the government's credit measures were put in place to avoid such a delay with providing the literacy text books but recent severe power shortages have foiled their plans. For the past couple of weeks most people across Nepal had to endure 16 hours without power each day, even in built up city areas. Power was only available between 10pm and 4am each day. As you can imagine, this makes doing business and most aspects of daily life nearly impossible. For a country with access to the world's largest natural water source, it is very disappointing that more has not been done to harness this resource for 'clean' electricity. Unfortunately with the problem now so severe there is talk that Nepal will start importing even more diesel-powered generators which sounds like a good idea to solve the problem except that the country typically has trouble maintaining a sufficient supply of diesel and other fuel to operate such generators as well as for motor transport. This means we are soon likely to see more access to electricity each day but little or no access to fuel, meaning long queues at fuel stations, and more difficulty for those who rely on transport for their livelihoods.

There is a real sense at the moment that the government are simply juggling problems to appease different groups for a short period at a time. We were heartened to hear yesterday that power cuts have now been reduced to only 10 hours per day due to an increase in snow melt from the Himalayas flowing into the rivers that service the hydro-electric power stations. But this will not stop the increasing dependence on fossil fuels for industry to be able to move forward. It is clear the challenges facing the new government are immense and we remain hopeful that they can start to deliver solutions before the country turns once again to violence and instability.

The BBC regularly reports on news from Nepal and you can find these stories by clicking here. In particular, you can read the story about the power situation by clicking here. Also, for an interesting look at the views of some Nepalese people from all walks of life click here.

Bec and I will just be in Kathmandu for 10 days and during that time we will be checking up on all of the Foundation's projects as well as having some meetings to plan the launch of more exciting new projects this year. So stay tuned for more on these in the coming weeks.

Christmas message

Wow, 2008 has been an amazing year for Mitrataa with so many new and exciting projects taking off. We have also been fortunate to have some truly amazing people come on board to contribute in different ways. There have been numerous visits to Nepal and we have had the pleasure of working with some fantastic volunteers who made the journey there as well. The most exciting part of this is that 2009 is already shaping up to be as big or even bigger!

We want to say a massive 'thanks' to everyone who has supported us throughout the year. We couldn't have done it without you, your contributions make the world of difference. We also want to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year, and look forward to hearing from you and keeping you all updated on our work in the new year.

Bec and Adam

Do something different this Christmas...

Stuck for ideas for a gift for someone special? Why not give them a unique gift that changes lives?

We currently have 30 girls on our waiting list for scholarships to attend school in Nepal. Without an education these girls will join the almost 60% of women in Nepal who are illiterate, condemning them to a life of limited opportunity and a lot of struggle.

For only AU$300 per year you can change a girl’s life forever. This amount covers school fees, uniform, text books and stationery, and any incidentals such as lunch and basic medical care – enough to start a young girl on the path to catching her dreams!


What an amazing thing to give someone less fortunate than you – a gift that makes a lasting impact.

You can read more about the Dream Catchers program at our website.

If you want to give this gift to a friend or family member, simply email us today to organise payment. We will prepare an information sheet for your recipient which will include details of the girl they are supporting and a photo. They will then receive updates throughout the year on the girl’s progress.

Please also forward this to anyone you think would like to make a difference.

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!

Fun and games at Bal Mandir!

Below is a report from our new staff member in Nepal covering a recent program we ran:

Two Australian Blues Musicians, Owen Campbell and James Kavannagh, gave a short musical performance at the Bal Mandir orphanage on October 21. About 150 children aged between 4 - 18 were present to enjoy the festivities. The objective for the day was to have fun and entertain the children with music, particularly as it took place during the main festival of the year in Nepal, Dashain. To this end, we arranged for around 50 kids from a nearby child protection home to join us for the afternoon’s program.

The performance was staged in a beautiful courtyard inside Bal Mandir with enough space to conduct games, singing, dancing and playing. When James and Owen first arrived the kids immediately had them engrossed in a massive soccer game!

This was followed by the musical performances with Owen playing the guitar and James singing. They performed nursery rhymes such as Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, If You’re Happy, etc. Many of the children knew the songs so they sang and danced along.

After the performance, there were more games followed by a snack break. James and Owen helped volunteers from Bal Mandir to give snack boxes to each of the children.

It was then time for more playing as the children were still very excited. With their unmatchable enthusiasm they were running around with friends or footballs. It became difficult to gather them once again at the same place. So we decided to attract them with a game.

After a couple of hours everyone including James and Owen were exhausted! James in particular said it was the most exercise he had had in a long while! On bidding farewell, James, Owen and Mitrataa donated the soccer balls to the children at the orphanage.


We must thank James and Owen for their time and also their energy and enthusiasm. They helped to create a very special day for these children and everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed themselves!