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A day aside for happiness and cherishing the children in our lives was celebrated on the occasion of Children’s Day on 14^th September 2018 for the students of Bhagawati Higher Secondary School at Susta Manasthiti Punarsthapana Kendra , Kharelthok, Kavre. 20 children participated in the program organized by NJSI team. The day was followed by a dance session, fun activities and delicious meal. New T-shirts for children were arranged as a gift for the occasion. Clad in their new clothes, the students eagerly headed to the ground to dance to the beats of the music played.

The program was designed simply to celebrate an officially marked day for children doing what they are fond of. The happiness was seen on their faces while they were dancing and excited to receive gifts as they were very eager to get their hands on the new cloth and wear it as soon as possible. They enjoyed their best by getting involved in fun activities and dancing on the beats.

Sudha Silwal, supervisor of the center and a teacher, acknowledged NJSI for the entertaining program. Children also expressed their happiness through non-verbal means by getting involved throughout the day celebration despite the hot sunny day.

The cascade of Personal Development Camp reached hills of Kavre at Shree Bhagwati Secondary School. It is the only higher secondary school at Kharelthok village. Around 300 students attend the school. The camp was conducted for students of grades 8 to 12 on 7^th and 8^th of September 2018. Out of 66 students participated, majority belonged to Tamang ethnicity followed by Kharel, Shrestha and Shivabharati.

Like in the previous camps, NJSI has received positive response from the school and the students. Nirmal Lama, an active participator throughout the camp said, “I am very happy and grateful to Personal Development Camp which has helped us to focus on development of the selves. We learnt about identifying our aspiration and processes we need to embrace to reach our goals. We also learnt about different types of scholarships available and thanks to NJSI for making us aware of it. Now, I think, we do not have to worry about financial hindrance to attain higher education. I found this camp to be different from other programs because we were asked to think critically and give reasons for the stand we take.” Nirmal has been elected as the president of the NJSI Eco club, Shree Bhagwati Secondary School. He added, “Being the president of the club, I will make sure to protect my school and its environment. As in the previous Eco-clubs, school cleaning campaign was a success with huge piles of garbage collected from around the vicinity of the school.

“The camp has helped me learn my own strength, interest and aspiration”, said Rajiv Tamang, the vice president of the Eco-club. Similarly, another student of grade 11, Manoj Tamang reported, “I feel that the exercises of ‘Know Yourself, Know Your Aspiration’ session was very helpful in helping me identify and realize my dreams and also share with my friends.”

NJSI hopes that the Eco-clubs established through these Personal Development Camps will be a platform for the students to serve their community by protecting the environment and developing themselves as mindful youths.

“I have been teaching for past 20 years and have participated in many teaching aid workshops and trainings conducted by various entities providing educational support. However, I found the Integrated Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) training provided by NJSI to be different from the rest. It encouraged us to develop value of subject matter while transferring knowledge to our students”, said Mr. Rajendra Prasad Pangeni from Maha Laxmi Secondary School, Lalitpur after two days of IPP training conducted on 25 to 26 August 2018 at NJSI office, Bakhundole, Lalitpur.

18 teachers from 7 schools of Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts participated in the training program. 3 teachers from St. Xavier’s School, Jawalakhel who have been trained and highly experienced  on IPP led and facilitated the program. Mrs. Mamta Maharjan, a teacher from Bhanudaya Basic School, Lalitpur said, “It was a great platform for me to learn new things about lesson planning and counselling. I liked the way we were asked to do counselling different from the traditional way we have been following. Overall, I found this training very effective”.

Mr. Pangeni complemented, “I find this training and the works of NJSI in the education sector fruitful and praise worthy”. 

NJSI has been supporting Jaretar’s women from the beginning. We have had conducted various skill training  activities and advocacy programs. Most of the women participants are from Danuwar and Tamang communities. They have received basic to advance tailoring  course, soap making training, etc. NJSI has given 25 tailoring machines and other accessories  to the  women who completed the tailoring training, on 25th August 2018. This occasion was also an opportunity for them to be instructed more on how to run micro-credit cooperate society by themselves. NJSI will be supporting them with marketing training so that they can utilize the skills obtained from the training for advancing their income. This will include getting them in contact with clothe production companies who could supply raw materials and get their skilled labor to manufacture clothes for the company, while get paid for their labor. This presuppose further advanced training based on the designs required by the companies. The women group was very happy and excited about the support from NJSI and the Mission Achen who funded the tailoring machines.

It’s another month of medical checkup for our beloved children residing at Susta Manasthiti Purnasthapana Kendra at Kharelthok, Kavre. Wellbeing of these children is a crucial concern for NJSI.

This time, Dr. Anil Ojha, who has specialized as development pediatrician from Australia examined health condition of our 20 children on 22nd August 2018. He monitored and explained the needs of each child to their parents and the caretaker of the center, Ms. Sudha Silwal. He has recommended regular speech therapy, physiotherapy, intake of protein rich food and thyroid examination. NJSI looks forward to maintaining better health of these children and is thankful to Caritas Italy for their compassionate support.

100 students attend Narayansthan Basic School located at Panchkhal, Kavre. Almost all of them come from poor family, unable to support even the basic educational supplies. They come to school in torn clothes carrying old books and notebooks in the bags stitched at every corner. Poverty has also led to dropout of many students at the school.

With the support of Xavier Network, NJSI distributed 100 school uniforms, tracksuits, bags, sharpeners and erasers each, 1500 notebooks, 1200 pencils, 8 white boards and 58 geometry boxes on 17th August 2018. The students happily loaded their new bags with these materials.

NJSI is hopeful that having adequate educational supplies, they will be motivated to continually attend the school and study diligently. The principal of the school, Tika Bahadur Kafle, thanks NJSI for the support and anticipates further engagement in enhancing the quality of education at the school.