We continue to bring the antibacterial soap to schools and keep on reminding students to bring their toothbrush every Tuesday. This is to reiterate the importance of hygiene after the celebration of Global Handwashing Day. Before we started the Remedial Classes, we asked the students to fall in line at the sink and wash their hands. Some students bring their toothbrushes, so we also put toothpaste and let them brush their teeth. The students are always enthusiastic when it comes to this activity. We always assist them to prevent wasting water and to play around.

We successfully ended this year with the Sports Project that started in April of this year. We will continue the project until all of the students can master the different strategies for winning the board games. We saw students who excelled in these games, and we asked them to help their fellow players. We also never fail to supervise them if we see them struggle. We saw a lot of improvements from them. Most did not know how to play these board games when we introduced them. Now, they can play alone with minimum supervision from us. We always thank the teachers for their utmost support to us. It wouldn’t be possible if they didn’t remind their students about our schedules.

This is the last week that we visited the schools. The second week of December is the schedule of Christmas parties. We brought some worksheets about Math and English for Grade 3 and 4 students (they are the only present grade levels in school). After answering and checking their answers, we congratulated them for the job well done this year. They greeted us in return. We told them that we will be back next year with more activities. They are all happy to know that we will still visit them once a week. The bond that we formed with these students has become so strong that we are considered part of their progress in academics.

Before the year ends, we conducted an evaluation of our projects in schools. This is to determine the success and impact of our projects in schools. We prepared the evaluation forms, the same as last year. During our last visit in school this year, we asked some of the teachers to answer the evaluation form. After they finished answering the form, we interviewed them about our projects. We are happy to receive good feedback from them. They also told us that we are part of the students’ success this year and they are hoping to have us again next year. We told them that we are honored to work with them and that our projects will continue in their school.

Before the year ends, we also visited two of our Sewing Project beneficiaries. We checked their sewing machine, and we also asked them how the machines helped them. Mrs. Zenie told us that she has no confidence in sewing bedding and clothing, but she can repair minor damages. Some parts of her machine were malfunctioning, so she could only repair their family’s clothes. However, Mrs. Jinky is a certified sewer, and her mother owns a small sewing shop. She works there but uses a different heavy-duty machine. When they can’t finish their projects in their shop, she brings them home and uses the GFF HELPS sewing machine to continue. They are happy about our visit, and they are proud to show their work to us. We will visit the remaining women once the holidays are over. We received news that they are spending the holidays with their families, but they said that they will inform us next year so we can pay a visit.

The Philippine Team compiled all the Monthly Newsletter to came up an Annual Report along with the heartful message for Sir Owen.We expressed how thankful we are for all the support that the Philippines have been receiving since 2018. They have been a great instrument of hope to my countrymen. Attached are the cards that were handmade by the children and teachers from our school partners.They were very grateful for all the projects we had here at schools and they are hoping that we could continue our projects with them in the coming year 2024. We then created a collage of all the photos and cards so that it would be in one small artbook, with all the messages and photos of each sender. We printed the cover pages with the sender and recipients so that it would be easier for us and the courier to track. We sent separately the cards and reports for Sir Owen Glenn, Madam Jen Connah, Mr. Chris Rumore, Mr. James Keir via DHL Courier and Mr. David Mackintosh and Mr. James Long via Philippines’ Post Office.

We successfully conducted the Basics in Effective Leadership Webinar for the GFF HELPS International Team to share the things that we learn from the Weminar we attended here in the Philippines last November 10th, Friday evening., 2023.

This webinar was actually conducted by a Private Educator, MSTConnect and Stef and I were approved by Sir Saom to attend. It was actually a 3-hour webinar which happened last November night, via ZOOM, and it was attended by less than 100 Filipino professionals all over the Philippines and Stef and I were able to gain something from it and we told sir Saom that we could give the whole GFF HELPS Team the gist of it. This was actually intended to teachers, young and leaders that are new in the Project Team or company.

On 21st December, atleast 12 participated, together with all the GFF Representatives, Volunteers and Interns and guests, during the 1-hour webinar, everyone was encouraged to express themselves. We prepared some activities for everyone to think of and each country contributed ideas for us to know every country’s setting. Because we differ from everything, we have different culture, language, work ethics and all.

From the kind of family we were raised, from the kind of government we have, from the kind of school we had, we are socially different and as well our mindsets .. But our heart has one common goal when we started to volunteer here at GFF HELPS. Because we are also envisioning Sir Owen’s vision and mission. And through this webinar, we can get ideas on how to effectively lead each country.

On 9th of December, Saturday, LPG Gas awareness safety program was held at Pudung SOGG Learning center. The program was held to generate awareness around safety measures one take while using the LPG Gas and Stove. Since a large number of people living in the rural village do not fully know all the mechanics of the LPG Gas, the program was very informative and productive. The residents of the village were very happy and grateful to be able to receive such a workshop in their village. The resource person was from David Gas Kalimpong and we were extremely lucky to have them agree to hold this awareness workshop again. Through the workshop we hope that the residents were able to get answers for their doubts preventing any mishaps at their homes.

One of the major areas GFF Helps works in is Skill Development as it enables a person to become more independent and increase their knowledge. GFF Helps India decided to hold a baking workshop at Bong, Pudung and Chibbo Village. Our resource person was Mr. Devi Ram Rai from Darjeeling who is a chef in trekking companies and has many years of experience. As baking requires many expensive utensils that are not available in many households, in our workshop the women were taught how to bake in a traditional and easy way using utensils present in each and every household.

This is what made our Baking Workshop very unique and accessible to all. Mr. Devi Ram taught the women how to bake cake, banana pie, pizza and spring rolls. The women were very happy to be able as they now learned that such items could be prepared easily at home. This made them more enthusiastic and paid their full interest in the baking workshop. There were around more than 50 participants in all the three day workshop, so the impact of this program was quite large as well.

Christmas is the time of joy and sharing love therefore it is also known as one of the happiest holidays. Every year GFF Helps India celebrates Christmas with our dear children of Bal Suraksha Abhiyan. This year too on 23rd of December the yearly Christmas celebration was held. We took a lovely Christmas cake for the children and also provided packet lunch for all the children, respected sisters and staff of Bal Suraksha Abhiyan. All of us gathered at the hall and sang wonderful Christmas songs and then the youngest children came forward to cut the cake. Our Project Director Mr. Saom Tshering Namchu also spoke about Sir. Owen and his love towards the young children. We ended the program by distributing the cake and wishing everyone of a wonderful Christmas.

Adult Literacy is an ongoing educational program that started from October 2nd 2023, with its orientation class held on September 26, 2023 and has reached its second month on December 26th 2023. Due to the month-long national holiday in Nepal, for the festival of Dashain and Tihar, the classes stopped. We continued the regular classes from November 27, 2023. From then, three to seven women participated in the program on a daily basis, all of whom come from the women’s school under Ward no. 12 of Budhanilkantha Municipality. The program was led by GFF Helps Nepal, whereby the teach the women group the basic alphabets of English in both capital and small letters.

On December 18 and 19, 2023, the seventh and eighth week, we prepared Meta Cards using chart papers and wrote individual capital and small alphabets. We introduced an activity named “Arranging the letters alphabetically through meta cards” and it was hugely successful with a total of five participants that week. The main goal of introducing this activity was to induce visual learning and stimulate their brain functioning. As a picture speaks a thousand words, and promotes memorization, this activity was successful to meet the goal. It also brought them together when they were divided into teams while also engaging thoroughly in this group activity. Hence, this activity and the regular classes helped them in recognizing the letters individually and also correct the other team members if they didn’t place the alphabets in order.

From November 30, 2023, GFF Helps Nepal started planning on making Christmas Cards and our annual report. The following week, we started making Christmas cards using colored papers and chart papers. We also coordinated with the students of Shree Balkumari School, Kapan to make cards for Sir Owen, Ms. Jen Connah, Mr. Chris Rumore, Mr. David Mackintosh and Mr. James Long. Since a beautiful festival was on the way, GFF Helps Nepal as well as the entire team of GFF Helps wanted to wish our supporting pillars on the occasion. We wanted to express our gratitude for supporting us on our attempts to give help to those in need, and let them know that their help has reached many homes and hearts. On December 10, 2023, we made three physical copies of the GFF Helps Nepal Annual Report 2023. We completed sending off the Christmas cards and the annual report via courier and post office services on the final week of December 2023.

We are continuously supporting our partner organization as per their need. This December, we engaged in assisting the health clinic. We assisted her in technical aspects as well, like helping her to create a first-aid box, documenting it on our devices and keeping a record of it on Google Drive. We also helped her in creating physical documents and proof-reading the physical documents of the list of visitors for the month.

Whenever the health clinic in-charge Mrs. Samikshya Tiwari was absent or busy in the daycare we would inform her about the patient and co-ordinate if we can provide some immediate relief. Otherwise, we assisted the patients with certain treatments such as putting ointment on the hand injuries, putting bandages, cleaning the wounded area, and providing medicines as per the instruction of Mrs. Samikshya. supported her in the clinic. Usually, the students of Balkumari school and people from the local community come to seek treatment.

We are continuously supporting our partner organization as per their need. This December, we engaged in assisting the health clinic. We assisted her in technical aspects as well, like helping her to create a first-aid box, documenting it on our devices and keeping a record of it on Google Drive. We also helped her in creating physical documents and proof-reading the physical documents of the list of visitors for the month.

The prevailing economic crisis in Sri Lanka has triggered a swift and alarming increase in vegetable prices, presenting a critical challenge to the accessibility of affordable and nutritious food for a significant portion of the population. This unfolding situation not only places individual households under considerable strain but also exposes community health and overall well-being. The economic hardships have resulted in a risky situation where many individuals face difficulties in affording essential vegetables, compromising nutritional security. As the need for urgent intervention becomes apparent, a viable solution emerges in the form of a sustainable home garden project. Such an initiative holds the potential to empower individuals, diminish dependence on fluctuating market prices, and strengthen food security and empower them economically by selling the excess.

In a laudable initiative, GFF HELPS Sri Lanka has taken strides to provide invaluable English language education to underprivileged children in rural areas. This program, conducted twice a week without any financial burden on the participants, is meticulously designed to cultivate essential language skills listening, speaking, reading, and writing in these young learners. The core aim is to bridge educational disparities prevalent in rural communities and equip students with a comprehensive set of tools to enhance their overall language proficiency. By adopting a holistic approach that covers all aspects of language development, including effective communication and text comprehension, these sessions not only impart language skills but also foster a well-rounded language learning experience. Beyond linguistic capabilities, this initiative holds the promise of empowering children to broaden their horizons and seize new opportunities, recognizing the significant role English proficiency plays in the globalized landscape.

A weekly mobile library initiative unfolds in Ekiriyagala, catering specifically to rural students. The primary objective is to instill a passion for reading English storybooks among these young learners. This mobile library, a recurrent event, seeks to bring the world of literature closer to the students, fostering not only a love for reading but also an engagement with the English language. Through this ongoing effort, the aim is to cultivate a habit of exploration and discovery through the pages of diverse stories, enhancing the students’ language skills and overall cognitive development. In essence, the mobile library stands as a beacon of knowledge and imagination, reaching out to the rural students of Ekiriyagala with the transformative power of literature.