On October 1st, GFF Helps Nepal celebrated the “International Day of Older Persons” by hosting a special session for the mothers in our Adult Literacy Class. This event was a collaboration with our local partner organization, CDS (Child Development Society), and FHEAL.

During our team meeting, Mr. Saom Namchu suggested this celebration, and Mrs. Samjhana Dhakal, CDS’s Admin and Finance Manager proposed a mental health session. We were introduced to Ms. Angelica Khatri, co-founder of FHEAL, a startup focused on mental health education and counseling.

The session began at 11:30 AM, with 23 mothers participating. Given the cultural stigma surrounding mental health in Nepal, it was important for the mothers to gain insights into this important topic. To create a safe environment, we established norms for confidentiality right at the start. The mothers were encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings. The session was interactive, featuring activities that helped enhance their understanding of mental health and boost their confidence.

The mothers appreciated having a platform to express their inner concerns freely and gave feedback that they finally felt heard. They learned about the significance of mental health, self-love, and self-care. Many mothers opened up about mental health issues that they’ve observed in their communities and families.

Due to the positive feedback, a follow-up session was also held on 27th October, as requested by the mothers.

Our local partner organization “CDS” (Child Development Society) is established to enhance the lives of children in Nepal by promoting their rights and responsibilities. Since the very beginning of this partnership between “CDS” and GFF Helps Nepal, the GFF Helps Nepal representatives have been continuously supporting the daycare center and health clinic run by “CDS”.

In October GFF Helps Nepal supported looking after the children at the daycare center and assisted Mrs. Samikshya Tiwari, (Health in charge) at the health clinic. We encouraged the children to participate in interactive learning activities that foster creativity, recreation through various games, and the development of their social skills.

Dashain is the most important festival here in Nepal. It represents the victory of good over evil and pays tribute to the goddess Durga, who conquered the demon Mahishasura. This festival is deeply rooted in Hindu mythology and lasts for 15 days, with the main celebrations taking place during the final days.

Dashain begins with Ghatasthapana (Day 1) when families sow Jamara, a sacred grass (seedling of wheat, barley, and maize) symbolizing prosperity in a small pot with holy water and sand bed. On Fulpati (Day 7), homes are decorated with flowers as families prepare for the upcoming celebrations. Maha Ashtami & Maha Navami (Days 8 & 9) are celebrated by intense worship and rituals dedicated to goddess Durga, often involving animal sacrifices. Dashami (Day 10) is the festival’s most important day when families gather together to receive “tika” (a mixture of rice, yogurt, and vermillion) from elders, get blessings for health and prosperity, exchange gifts, and feast. Finally, Kojagrat Purnima (Day 15) wraps up the festival with various rituals and celebrations.

Dashain is not just a religious festival; it’s also a time for families to come together and strengthen their bonds. People travel long distances to return home, showing the importance of family unity. During the festival, younger members seek blessings from their elders by putting on “tika”. People fly kites, play cards, play traditional bamboo swing, sing and dance during Dashain. So Dashain is also considered as the festival of unity spreading happiness among all Nepalese.

We also celebrated Dashain with the mothers from Adult Literacy Class on 7th October before the national holidays of Dashain began. The holidays at “CDS” began from 10th October and the office resumed from 20th October.

On 21st October after the Adult Literacy Class, GFF Helps Nepal representatives had a small session of BP check-ups for mothers who were presented in class. Both representatives had been learning to measure BP as well as sugar levels from Mrs. Samikshya Tiwari, health in charge at “CDS”.

The idea of weekly BP measurement was provided by Mr. Saom Namchu. The mothers will have their BP checked weekly by the GFF Helps Nepal representatives. This will help the mothers become more aware of their health. Regular BP checks can catch problems like high blood pressure early, allowing for better management and treatment. Healthy mothers can take better care of their families and can also focus toward learning in the Adult Literacy Class.

This October we mostly focused on learning conjunctions and sentence-making.

Many mothers were traveling to get back to their villages to celebrate the Dashain festival so the classes were closed from 7th October. During this, the mothers were also provided home assignments. Our Adult Literacy class resumed on 21st October after Dashain’s vacation.

After the classes started, we continued first with the revision to make sure that mothers hadn’t forgotten the previously learned topics. Then as per requests from mothers simple conjunctions were taught to mothers along with sentence-making using those conjunctions. The mothers shared that they are really happy to get back to class and continue learning after a long holiday.

On 7th October, we had a meeting with the mothers from “SEEP” about the cooperative that GFF Helps Nepal is trying to create and the membership forms that the mothers have to fill up before the registration process. The forms are being collected from the mothers who are interested in being part of the cooperative.

Similarly, we also had a meeting with Mr. Tashi on 20th October about domain registration and we took part in website training on 21st October. Apart from that more product research is being done and more products are being added for the sustainable project “Aarambha”.