Her Turn Girls Support Committee – Mentorship Program Fellows prepare to lead!
In August 2017, Hamro Palo introduced a flagship program for young urban women under its umbrella program called Her Turn Girls Support Committee – Mentorship Program. 17 outstanding young women who came from various parts of Nepal residing in Kathmandu, and from all walks of life; from theater artists to social activists, social workers to community developers, aspiring lawyers to health practitioners are ready to embark on a 5-month long journey of a lifetime.
Prior to starting the fellowship, the first step of this journey was workshop with fellows; an intensive and interactive 3-day workshop which was held on 27–29 of August that included sessions on rural and urban girls’ issues. Interactive sessions on anti-trafficking and child marriage in Nepal by Ms. Narbada Sorali Magar from Shakti Samuha and Ms. Ola Perczynska from People in Need (PIN) were other highlights of the workshop which helped fellows to build their understanding of these issues and prepare for their service learning advocacy projects. Furthermore, the session about the advocacy plan helped fellows to think about girls’ issues that they would like to work with Girls Support Committee and mentors.
During the workshop, fellows were paired into 9 teams – two individuals in each team in 8 different rural villages across Sindupalchowk, one of the districts highly affected by the 2015 earthquake. Fellows were all happy to know their community service learning project allocations, and to find out who their counterparts would be for the coming months.
When asked how they are feeling at the end of their workshop and starting their 5-month long journey with Hamro Palo, placed in Ichowk, Helambu Jeena, one of the fellows said “One of the main reasons for joining fellowship is to involve in the community and get real picture of village life. Fellowship is also a great platform for me to use my theoretical knowledge into practice. After the workshop I am really excited to involve community members during community service learning week by sharing and receiving new knowledge.”
“3-day workshop had been a wonderful experience which helped me to gain knowledge about issues of girls in rural settings from like minded people. Also, learning the methods of advocacy has further motivated me to work in the issues of girls and women. I am looking forward to gain hands-on experience through the fellowship whilst advocating for adolescent girls’ and women’s issues” shared Shital Maharjan.
Social mobilizers Nirmala Thapa Magar and ShrijanaTamang also participated in the workshop with fellows and will be helping fellows throughout the fellowship. “Taking part in the workshop with fellows was a new experience for me. I was highly impressed by the presentation on anti-trafficking given by Ms. Narbada Sorali Magar from Shakti Samuha where I was able to learn new trends in trafficking in Nepal after earthquake. Through the workshop we were able to gain new knowledge to work more effectively with our Girls Support Committee (GSC) and further advocate rural women’s and girls’ issues together with all the fellow members” said Nirmala.
“I am glad that Hamro Palo is bridging the gap between rural and urban girls by making urban girls understand rural issues. I hope the fellows will be able to have a real understanding of rural women and adolescent girls’ issues. I am so looking forward to welcome them in our village and work together to bring positive change” said Shrijana.
After completing the workshop, fellows are now in the field to their respective villages for the community service learning project for a week in September to know more about the village, GSC, Mentors and issues in the village. Likewise, in October and November fellows will advocate issues related to young girls via creative space such as: blogs, workshops, articles, photo, documentary, film voice, life coaching, flash mob, arts, theaters, social media campaigns and many more. After the successful completion of service learning project and advocacy work, one day national level conference will be organized where fellows will share their learning and advocacy experiences with educators, government agencies, national and international organizations and other stakeholders.
3-day workshop with fellows ended with great learning and knowing about individual passions and unique qualities, which the fellows will be bringing to their project placed during the service learning week and throughout the fellowship.
Fellows and Hamro Palo are looking forward to head to their respective villages and start their journey, with a shared excitement to work together hand-in-hand with GSC, mentors and social mobilizers to bring positive lasting change. We wish them all the best at the start of their incredible journey!