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Strength TogetHER - Session 6(Closing Ceremony)

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  May 1, 2023 On May 1, 2023 we conducted our closing session of Strength TogetHER at Chaitanya Secondary School, Banepa. Continuing our collaboration with Zonta Club of Kathmandu from 2022, where we joined hands to provide virtual sessions of Strength TogetHER, a safe space for girls to share their stories and learn from each other at Jumla. It was a successful session with immense impact stories.  Likewise, with an effort to give continuity to creating impact, we started our Strength TogetHER session for the girls from grade 11 at Chaitanya Higher Secondary School, Banepa. It is a public school established in 2017 B.S. We conducted the session for a total of 20 girls. While interacting with them, we got to know that most of them were there for their high school studies and came from different parts of the country. Majority of the students had completed their school education in their villages where they rarely got opportunities to come to explore their interests nor got any platform

Strength TogetHER - Session 5 (Untold Stories)

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  March 3, 2023 Lokopakar in collaboration with ZONTA Club of Kathmandu is conducting "Strength TogetHER" sessions at Chaitanya Secondary School, Banepa. On 3rd March, 2023 we conducted the session on the topic "Untold Stories." We gave a safe space for our participants to share their stories which remained untold previoulsy. The stories shared among the participants were: “We are three siblings. Out of the 3 siblings, 2 of us are daughters. My elder sister eloped with a man, and I am bearing the pressure of taking care of the family’s status now. The people in my village talk bad about me and my family. They say that it’s not possible for me to marry in a proper way and that they could guarantee the same as they believe that I will elope in the near future. I get hurt listening to that. When I call my mother, she cries and always tells me to be good. And, that she has been hearing things about me which are untrue. I am here because of my parents believing in me. Bu

Strength TogetHER - Session 4 (A Time When Patriarchy Let Me Down)

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  February 24, 2023 Lokopakar in collaboration with ZONTA Club of Kathmandu is conducting "Strength TogetHER" sessions at Chaitanya Secondary School, Banepa. On 24th February, 2023 we conducted the session on the topic "A Time When Patriarchy Let Me Down." The participants talked about how patriarchy has affected their lives. The stories shared among the participants were: "I feel bad when my mother tells me not to touch plants when I get my periods. She tells me that if I were a boy, she would not say that." "I have a sister-in-law. She is from my uncle's daughter-in-law. She comes from a Magar family and doesn't have a father. She stayed in a hostel from a very young age and now she is a teacher. She keeps on telling us that we have not been able to do anything despite growing up. She says that we have been using and enjoying mother and father's money and that when she was our age she was independent. My sister completed her bachelor'

Strength TogetHER - Session 3 (My First Period Story)

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February 17, 2023 Lokopakar in collaboration with ZONTA Club of Kathmandu is conducting "Strength TogetHER" sessions at Chaitanya Secondary School, Banepa. On 17th February, 2023 we conducted the session on the topic "My first period story." This has been an important topic for us and the participants as they rarely get to share these stories, and when they do share in the group they grow an empathy among their friends and get to know about each other more. The stories shared among the participants were: "I was in class 7 when I got my first period. It was morning time. I was taken to my sister's home and put there. I attended my school though. I didn't miss my school. I was scared but overall my first period was okay." "I got my first period when I was in class 7. My school was closed. I told my mother about it and she helped me." "I got my first period when I was in class 8. It was the month of Asoj, just before Dashain, the major

Strength TogetHER - Session 2 (My Small Happiness)

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  February 10, 2023 On 10th February, 2023 we conducted the first topic based session of  "Strength TogetHER" at Chaitanya Secondary School, Banepa. This is being done in collaboration with ZONTA Club of Kathmandu. ZONTA Club of Kathmandu is a group of female professionals advocating for equality, education and an end to child marriage and gender-based violence. The topic for the second session was, "My Small Happiness". The story shared by the participants are: "My small happiness is when I went out with my friends on my birthday this year. We went to a nearby jungle with all the things that we had prepared beforehand, like home cooked meals, cake, and chips. We danced and sang and it was my happy moment." "My happiness is related to the previous birthday story. I had gone along with them to celebrate her birthday. There were 7 people in total. We wanted to make a cake ourselves, and we did too. We all sang and danced in the songs that we had prepare

Strength TogetHER - Session 1(Introductory Session)

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  February 3, 2023 Continuing our collaboration from 2021, Lokopakar has joined hands with Zonta Club of Kathmandu to expand Strength TogetHER to Chaitanya Higher Secondary School, a public school in Banepa, Kavre. Previously, Lokopakar had collaborated with ZONTA Club of Kathmandu to conduct virtual sessions of “Strength TogetHER” in Jumla. The sessions were 10 weeks long and the discussed topics ranged from my small happiness to gender stereotypes. Understanding the need and essence of Strength TogetHER and the power it holds, we are collaborating to conduct physical sessions for the students of grade 11 at Chaitanya Higher Secondary School, Banepa. On 4th February, 2022 we did the introduction session. There are a total of 29 girls in grade 11 joining us for the session. We introduced Lokopakar and our activities, and what to expect during the sessions. Then, gave a detailed introduction on the ZONTA Club of Kathmandu and the activities it supports.  While introducing ourselves, and