Amazing People!

I recently posted a message from Yegane, a former volunteer who was raising money for Mitrataa by running the Chicago marathon. Well I am so proud and happy to report that Yegane completed the marathon in a fantastic time of 4:22:00. This is particularly impressive when you think that the temperature only reached 5°C towards the end of the marathon! As well as this mighty effort, through her friends and supporters Yegane has managed to raise around AU$2,000 for Mitrataa. So to all of these people we say a huge "thank you"!

We also recently received a AU$700 donation from a group of friends who have adopted Mitrataa as their charity for fundraising events through their work social club. To raise this money the group held a trivia night and also a muffin sale for morning tea in their office. Thanks so much guys!

These are just two examples of how easy it is for anyone to contribute and make a difference to any cause that is important to them.

With AU$2,700 in Nepal we can:

* Educate 40 women in basic literacy, numeracy and business skills, and give them a small loan to start a business; and
* Send 2 Nepali girls to school for a year, giving them books, stationery, uniforms and everything else they need to study.

So as you can see, so much can be achieved with relatively small amounts of money - so many lives can be changed forever.

Thank you so much again to Yegane and everyone mentioned above, and to all of our supporters. It is due to all of you that we are able to do something to substantially change the lives of women and girls in Nepal.

Family Trek 2010

We are excited to share that our first fundraising trek will take place in April next year (2010). This trip will provide a fantastic opportunity for you and a relative to visit Nepal, participate in a relatively easy trek that allows you to take in some breathtaking views of the Himalayas, and visit some of our projects in and around Kathmandu.

We have designed the trip with families in mind making it ideal for parents and children, brothers and sisters, couples etc. Numbers for the trip will be kept quite small, up to about 16 people maximum, so it also provides the perfect opportunity to meet people who share your interest in Nepal.

More information about the trip can be found at our website.

Contact details are also provided on the site or you can email me directly for more information including pricing. Closing date for bookings for the trip is 30 November 2009.

We look forward to the opportunity of sharing the beauty and magic of Nepal with you!

Chicago Marathon Fundraiser

Hi! Below is a post from a volunteer who is now running the Chicago Marathon to raise money for Mitrataa(!).

Hello!
 
I hope life is treating you well.
 
Last December while in Nepal, I had the privilege to have a short volunteering experience where I visited about 10 literacy classes for the girls and women of Kathmandu sponsored by Mitrataa Foundation which is a small charity founded and ran by a couple of kind Australians. I was asked by Mitrataa to assess the progress of the classes. I was amazed with the enthusiasm of the students whose age varied between 14 and 60! I was told by the teacher of a class that a student who was 60 years old filled a whole exercise book as soon as she could write her name first time in her life! The classes also teach women how to start and run a small business so that women are empowered to have a better life over all. (This is our Daisy Chains project.)
 
Most of the students attended the classes in between their chores and earning a living while working in terrible conditions for less than a dollar a day. After this short but incredible experience, I promised myself that my next fund raising effort would be for the Mitrataa Foundation as I have seen what they try to provide to these unfortunate women who happened to be born in the wrong part of the world.
 
Due to being based away from all friends (e.g. being in my home town in Turkey for the past 3 months) I didn't think it was logistically possible for me to have a fund raiser effort for the Chicago Marathon that I am suppose to run on Sunday. BUT I have not done much training and I really need an incentive to finish the bloody thing! I NEED your help! Please, please would you sponsor me so that I finish the Marathon? I am going to be in huge pain and may give up half way because after all what is the point? But if I know that those less fortunate than me will benefit from my pain, I will continue until the end!  GO ON - help me and those who really really need it!
 
And here are the pictures of my visit to these classes.
 
With tons of love.
Yegane

PS - When you pledge, I will give you the link to make an online donation - so it is dead easy!

To donate now, click here to go to our website and then click on the blue 'Make a Donation' button in the top right corner. This will take you to our PayPal page and from there just follow the instructions.

Because I Am A Girl

Just wanted to share a website and report that Bec and I recently discovered that really resonates with us and the justification for Mitrataa's work in Nepal.

The site is part of Plan International Australia and is called 'Because I am a girl'.

The site proves interesting reading as it includes loads of information on the justification for investing in the education of girls and women. It also has a page dealing with the question 'what about boys'? This is a question I face a lot when giving presentations and unfortunately it is one of the most difficult to answer. Unless you have visited a country such as Nepal and seen the gender discrimination that is endemic in every aspect of society it is very hard to imagine.

The 2009 report on the site is also interesting reading. It gives a lot of information and statistics and the current situation with some surprising and disturbing trends. For example, in some places affected by the global financial crisis, 7 out of the 10 workers laid off are women! The trickle-down effect of this situation is obvious.

As always, we believe education is the best long term solution for these challenges and that is what we will continue to do. All evidence points to the fact that educating women and girls increases the likelihood of them educating the next generation as well as taking better care of their families and contributing to local economies. Mitrataa runs 2 programs specifically targeting education of women and girls:

1. Dream Catchers - scholarships for girls to attend school; and
2. Daisy Chains - literacy, business training and micro-loans for women.

Please do get in touch to find out more, contribute, or become involved.

Let the dreaming begin!

Our Dream Centre facilitators recently ran two activity programs over two days for the lucky girls attending our pilot Dream Centre. The activities covered communication skills and motivation skills with the workshop being prepared by Gayatri, one of our facilitators.

The workshops incorporated games such as Chinese whispers and Pictionary, group discussions and presentation, individual writing and presentation, question and answer sessions and brainstorming. From all accounts the girls had a fantastic time as did the facilitators!

These types of programs will be the cornerstone of the Dream Centres as they fill a hole in the current education system in Nepal. They will teach girls the importance of communication as well as how to communicate effectively. They will also teach the girls the benefits of self-motivation leading to improved self-esteem and self-sufficiency. As the girls build on these teachings and work through further programs it will be exciting to see their progress into the women of tomorrow in Nepal!

Thank you to Gayatri and the Dream Centre facilitators for all their hard work.

In Sydney

Just a quick post here. I've been in Sydney for a short while now and have been racing around speaking to various Rotary Clubs and other organisations looking for donations. We also had a board meeting recently and came up with a lot of exciting plans for fundraising events and projects for next year so look out for more news on those. I've had a number of meetings with schools too with a view to more trips to Nepal next year which is very exciting. Will post more about all of this as things develop.

Stay tuned for an update on the work in Nepal shortly...

Pilot Dream Centre Flying!

After many months of planning, finding a location, training facilitators, preparing activities and course materials, and selecting girls (from so many candidates), our first Dream Centre is up and running! We visited this pilot Centre a couple of times on our recent visit to Kathmandu and also had a chance to run some workshops for the facilitators.

It was fantastic to see what the facilitators and Chetana, our Nepal Project Manager, had achieved in such a small time. The room was wonderfully decorated with the girls' artwork and there was a real atmosphere of fun and learning in the place. When the girls arrived we were very impressed with their confidence and the manner in which they got on with their work - the Centre was clearly already having an impact!

During one visit to the Centre we delivered some very special children's books that had been donated by the authors in Australia, who also signed the books. The girls could not believe that they were holding copies of books actually signed by the authors! It was great to see them so eager to open the books and start reading too. English is one of the subjects that the Dream Centre facilitators have been focusing on as many of the girls have been struggling with it. Books such as these will provide great additional learning material as well as a lot of fun for the girls.

This Centre will serve as the pilot for future centres with at least 1 and possibly 2 more to be opened by the end of the year. With already a long list of girls waiting to attend this Centre we will really need to get the next ones opened as quickly as possible as word spreads so will the demand!