Catherine Berry worked with NOH kids in classes 4 through 7 on how to practice meditation. She explained how meditation helps settle the mind and then allowed the groups to practice meditating for 10 minutes.
News and Special Events - 2016
December 26, 2016
December 22, 2016
In the afternoon, we held two sessions of an inspirational workshop led by long-time volunteer Jake Hickey. He talked to students in grades 6 through 9 about his life decisions, personal regrets, his various jobs, and how he came to be where he is now.
December 22, 2016
The women watched English Vinglish, an inspiring movie about a Indian women who learns English while visiting the United States. About 50 women attended the movie, and they all really enjoyed it!
December 16, 2016
Dr. Sarah Bannerman ran two sessions of a workshop on High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and Heart Health. The highlight of the workshop was the interactive part where she asked one woman volunteer from the audience to measure out how much sugar is in Coke; the women guessed three teaspoons, but there are really 9 teaspoons!
December 16, 2016
Daisy Hickey led two sessions of yoga for the women and it was a hoot to watch. There was much fun and laughter during these yoga sessions--certainly more than experienced during most yoga classes! The women loved it and would like to continue yoga classes every week if possible!
December 9, 2016
Volunteer Dhiren Ratanji and CECC Director Hillary Bernhardt led two sessions of a workshop on “Personal Finance” for 60 women. The workshop included two hands-on activities, one focusing on needs vs. wants and the other on monthly household cash flow.
December 9, 2016
CECC teacher Jashmina Thapa and Suman Poudel led a two-hour workshop on “Team-building” for NOH kids in classes 6 through 9. Fifty-two kids divided into groups to write and perform songs, compete in a relay race, and make newspaper outfits in a competition.
December 2, 2016
Volunteer Mackenzie Perras followed up on our “Feeling Good and Dealing with Stress/Emotions” workshop series by leading 94 women in a “Creative Art Therapy” workshop. During two 75-minutes sessions, women learned about the positive effects of making art and then each had the opportunity to draw their own pictures.
November 22, 2016
Throughout the third week in November 2016, NOH advisor Laurie Levine taught several “Living Your Best” workshops to over 70 NOH children and young adults. Working with NOH kids in classes six through ten, Laurie taught them how to manage stress, understand their emotions, and what to do to help them feel better when they feel frustrated, upset, angry, or stressed.
November 20, 2016
The Chelsea Center threw a party filled with games, dancing, and awards for its women members to welcome everyone back to the Center after the long Dashain/Tihar vacation.
November 18, 2016
On November 18 and 26, 2016, Laurie Levine led a two-part workshops series on “Feeling Good and Dealing with Stress/Emotions” after many of the women expressed interest in learning about depression and mental health. With everyone laughing, saying ohm, and doing breathing exercises, the workshops were a huge success with over a hundred women in attendance.
November 11, 2016
Volunteer Romina Gorer led a workshop on Childhood Development to help the women at the Chelsea Center understand how their children learn. During the workshop, the women learned how much their children learn by example, from their own actions and from those of their close friends and relatives.
September 30, 2016
On September 30, 2016, volunteer Dr. Amanda Hill led two ninety-minute workshops on pregnancy for 66 women who were eager to learn about what happened to their and other women’s bodies during pregnancy. The workshop covered the stages of pregnancy, good practices during pregnancy, and what to expect during childbirth.
During September of 2016, Andrea conducted a workshop series on menstruation for the women of Chelsea. Part one of the series covered the biology of menstruation, female anatomy, what occurs during each part of a female’s cycle, and why females menstruate. Part two of the workshop series dived into a discussion of whether menstruation is a biological or social phenomenon with 68 women participating.
September 20, 2016
Famous Nepali actor Sandhya KC spoke to Nepal Orphans Home children last Tuesday about the challenges she encountered on her path to becoming an actor.
August 7, 2016
One of our former teachers at the Chelsea Center returned last week to offer a workshop about his new profession as a banker. He explained the various services banks offer and how to open a bank account. Thanks, Binod!
June 14, 2016
A few weeks ago some of our musically interested/talented children were introduced to classical music by our new friends Panos and Fumiko from Keys of Change (www.keysofchange.org). The thunderstorm raging outside didn't dampen spirits as Beethoven and Mozart echoed through the house. The children had the opportunity to play some instruments themselves accompanied by Panos on the piano. What a blast!
May 20, 2016
The women enjoyed their first field trip with the Chelsea Center. They arrived in their finest clothes with huge smiles and great anticipation for the day's events. Seven buses rolled out of Dhapasi headed for the National Botanical Gardens with conversation, laughter, and songs emanating from the open windows. The sudden downpour upon our arrival did nothing to dampen spirits, and the rain quickly subsided. It was a joyous occasion for all 200 women who attended!
May 4, 2016
The Chelsea Center hosted a “Bring-a-Friend Day” by encouraging our current adult students to spread the word about the Center to other local women and encourage more women to enroll. Our enthusiastic and eager-to-try-anything teaching staff planned fun and engaging activities for their classes, so the newcomers could easily join in. The halls and classrooms were packed with new faces, and the sign-up sheets for classes were overflowing with new names. Enrollment increased in many of our existing classes, and we also added four new classes to the schedule.
April 20, 2016
During April and May, Carola Drosdeck, vice president of the NOH board of directors, led a series of workshops on self-awareness, the learning process, making oral presentations and writing news articles for our Class 10 students.
April 14, 2016
In April, we held a series of Professional Career Seminars for our older girls through the program Girl Talk, a group dedicated to empowering girls through online learning opportunities. Several impressive women leaders in the fields of business, social work, and nursing spoke with our class ten girls via video conferencing about their careers and how these young women can achieve success in fields of their choosing.
March 10, 2016
Dr. Shankar Rai, Director of the Nepal Cleft and Burn Clinic in Kritipur, gave a fantastic presentation on burn prevention today at the Chelsea Education and Community Center. His audience was a group of twelve of our older Nepal Orphans Home students and four volunteers and staff members. Jean-François de Lavison from the Ahimsa Fund was in attendance as well. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this project.
February 18, 2016
Kristine, a volunteer nurse from Australia, gave presentations on first aid and caring for sick children to our adult education learners at the Chelsea Center (with a little help from CECC teacher Ashok Yadav). Many of our learners are mothers with young children and little access to healthcare, so her lessons were extremely valuable. Thank you so much, Kristine!