Barna from Umbrella studying hard for his SLC examinations.
In April, 25 of the children in our homes and 3 reintegrated children sat the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations. Upon finishing these, they undertook a volunteer placement in their home village. Many of them travelled to their communities and undertook teaching aid placements in their local village schools. When the results were published at the end of June, they returned to Kathmandu to enter our Next Steps Youth & Education Programme (NSYEP). We are so proud of them all – 3 of the boys achieved distinctions!
In the NSYEP, they have the option of taking either an academic or vocational course so they have been busy making important decisions about their futures over the past month. On July 12th, we held a tika ceremony in a local venue to acknowledge the children’s fantastic results and welcome them into the Next Steps Youth & Education Programme (NSYEP). They also took part in a motivational workshop hosted by our Chairman, Megh Ale. He must have done a good job as many of them attended the Bagmati River Festival to volunteer their time for the river clean-up the following day. They were up at 7:30 am and got stuck into the work – collecting plastic and pollutant material from the river’s banks.
The 2013 SLC graduates with Chairman, Megh Ale who delivered a motivational talk to the group.
Over the next few months, we will be helping them to move out into their own flats, where they learn to live, cook and budget for themselves. Our youth officer will organise regular social events to ensure they remain actively involved in our community. We are with them every step of the way, counselling them and providing educational support and living allowances for the duration of their chosen course, and thereafter continue to be available to them in a supportive capacity. We wish them the best of luck in this new chapter of their lives.
Kippa and Kumar, Umbrella’s newly graduated youths, worked hard to clear the rubbish from the banks of the Bagmati River.
