Happy New Year! The last month was rich in emotions and celebrations.

At the beginning of the month, I spent a few days in the Kavre district in Panchkhal, which is a 3-hour drive from Kathmandu. We spent there 3 days, where we stayed at a family’s home from the village. I was lucky to be able to attend the closing ceremony of the Her Turn program once again. Like last month, this ceremony was again very inspiring for me. At several times I was speechless when I saw the young girls talking about taboo topics in front of the whole school. They performed in different ways (dances, speeches and poems) drawing the public's attention to menstruation, early marriage, sexual abuse... The next day we trained two young girls, so that they can conduct the Sneh program, for married, out of school and young mothers. On the last day, we attended the opening ceremony of the Sneh program. These few days spent in this village were very enriching for me, I learned a lot about the life in this village. The moments shared together with my 2 colleagues and the family were amazing, even with an existing language barrier we all had so much fun together.

After 15 days, we returned for a day in the Panchkal village to attend the closing ceremony of the Sneh program. Several participants shared what they learned during the program; they were all very grateful that they got the opportunity to attend it. It was a ceremony full of emotions, in fact the participants shared their experiences about struggles they faced in the past, they think that in the future they now know differently how to manage these different situations.

In the office, this month I finished the Newsletter where I wrote about all the activities that Hamro Palo has carried out this year so far. In addition, I did the comparison analyses. In fact, at the beginning and the end of each program the participants fill out the same survey. I compared the answers of the two dates, which shows us if the program was effective. Doing these analyzes also shows me how important these programs are. Most participants, for example, did not know before the program what menstruation is or that domestic violence is illegal in Nepal.

Julie Denève and several people from the ONGD-FNEL and the Scouts FNEL came to Nepal to visit some projects and to organize a Scout camp planned for next year. I was able to join them for two days. On the first day we visited the Prisoners Assistance Nepal project in Sankhu. The second day was a meeting with the representatives of each organization that ONGD-FNEL supports. The aim was for the different organizations to learn from each other, and perhaps even cooperate. During those days I learned about the different ways and methods that organizations like them use.

Apart from my work, I also visited a few new places this month. With my family, which came to visit me for a few days, I was in the jungle in Bardiya. The nature and landscapes were incredible, we saw many animals and even two tigers! With my Nepalese friends I celebrated the Nepalese New Year :)

Now I only have one more month left in this wonderful country, while writing this I have tears in my eyes. I am already dreading my last day when I have to say goodbye to all these beautiful people, I met the last few months. However, I am still excited for the next few weeks knowing that a lot is planned so that I take full advantage of my remaining time here.

Lisa