Meet Tara, our 2018 Youth Ambassador!

Tara is in Year 10 at St Catherine’s School in Sydney. Earlier this year, she travelled with her classmates to Nepal on our Youth to Youth Program, a peer to peer learning program connecting Australian high school students with girls of a similar age at our partner, Asha Nepal.

​This year’s program focused on celebrating strengths and breaking the cycle of negative thinking, delivered through games and group activities designed to model learning through discovery and build independence, self-confidence, and interpersonal skills. We’ll let Tara tell you more about it.
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I was fortunate enough to spend four days with some of the most amazing girls I have ever met and I loved every minute of it. Before going to Asha Nepal I was expecting the girls to be very shy and that there would be a large language barrier, however, I was amazed at how friendly the girls were and how well most of them spoke English. They made us all feel so welcome!

Our program at Asha focused on positive psychology methods and ways to deal with challenging experiences. Our teacher who coordinated the trip, had created worksheets designed to be easy and fun to use, whilst still conveying important messages for the girls to use in their everyday lives, to help them in tough or despairing situations. For example, we did an exercise called “letting go” where the girls wrote things that troubled them onto a balloon and then blew up the balloon and “let it go”.  Through this activity, we hoped the girls would learn some simple ways to discard negative thoughts and focus on the future. We also spent time playing football with them where everyone, even the teachers played!

Our final day at Asha Nepal was spent talking to our new-found friends and enjoying ourselves. Asha Nepal has recently introduced a music program and to our delight, we were able to hear what they have accomplished on guitar, keyboard and in song. During our last day with the girls some of them did our hair in elaborate braids and others drew very decorative hennas on our hands. Our time at Asha Nepal ended with a few tears but with numerous memories which we will cherish forever.  Through this incredible opportunity to get to know these girls, I have been able to learn so much and grow as a person.

By understanding what most of the girls had gone through and after seeing how resilient and how much determination they have to shape their lives into something positive, my perspective of the world has changed. One of the key messages, which I learnt from my time at Asha, was how important it is to be grateful for the good things you have in your life.

The few days that I spent at Asha Nepal were some of the best days and have left me with memories which I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I am now looking to my year as Project Didi’s Youth Ambassador! Keep an eye on their Facebook and blog for more from me later in the year. ​​