Strength TogetHER 4 - Session 1

 

August 29, 2020

Strength togetHER is a space created to share and hear personal stories. It is a safe space where any girl can share their stories without feeling judged. The session is facilitated by Lokopakar-an organization working to create innovative programs for youth development mainly around outdoor learning. Lokopakar is also currently engaged in providing mentorship to students from Grade 9- 12 to develop personally and professionally.

It gives us immense pride to say that family of Strength togetHER has a new cohort reaching to new sets of people. 

On August 29, 4pm, we organized our first session which was our introductory session. Being a participant of cohort 1 and cohort 3 I learned to love myself more and be kind to myself. I thought why not inspire other girls too, so I decided to organize a new cohort, "Strength togetHER cohort 4".

 Our moderator was Miss Sabina Parajuli. She completed her Bachelor degree for TU and holds a job in Venus hospital. Also pursuing her Masters in Rural development. She is a current TFN alumni and served 2 years as a science fellow in rural public school. Other than that she with other 4 alumnus run UBSAR, a science project.

              

Starting with the session, we have a round of introduction. It was a pleasure to see new happy faces with a strong passion of learning something. After the introduction, our moderator suggested us to play an ice-breaking game where we had to share a story of 2-3 lines about the time we strengthened our bond with something or someone. This game helped us to know each other better.

 

 The stories that we got to listen was really interesting and fun.

•Our one participant shared a story about her bonding with a stranger. She said that she'd discovered a website where we can talk with strangers where she connected with a stranger and strengthened the bond. 

•Another member also felt the same while talking to a stranger. She shared that she made a stranger her best friend and how their bond is strong now.

•Another member shared that she started to bond with herself knowing that nothing is eternal and she has to learn to love herself more.

•Another participant shared how she strengthened her bond with a girl due to the same interest in music taste.

We also discussed the times when we felt we were not enough. 

•One member shared a story as she was called various names for being tall and big from a boy who himself was bigger than her.   

•One member also shared the feeling when she didn't feel pretty enough to wear certain clothes.  

Even if it was just an introductory session, it turned out to be really interactive and all the participants bonded together soon. I really feel happy to provide this space and I feel even happier seeing the young girls of my age utilizing the space well. The introductory session was a huge success. Looking forward for more sessions.

Written by- Bini Maharjan (Cohort Coordinator, LOKOPAKAR)

Edited by - Aastha Shrestha ( LOKOPAKAR)