THE GOOD PARTNERSHIPS

  This piece was published in February  2019 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times. You can also find it here:  SATH, A STORY OF FRIENDSHIPS AND PARTNERSHIP | Sharing4good It is hard to find better stories about the power of friendship and the impact of volunteering than the one related to Navina Gyawali and Sangita Shrestha that together with group of peers, have started Supportive action towards humanity (SATH) , a new not for profit working in the field of social inclusion. The mission of the organization is bridge the gap between blind and sighted people through an open and exchange platform where people with different abilities can socialize, interact, embrace and accept each other. It is a story of partnership when peers come together thanks to a volunteering experience that changed their lives. It is also a story of courage because SATH, a brainchild of Nabina, a social inclusion activist that recently concluded her experience with Kanthari, a great incubato...

  This piece was published in the first half of January 2019 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times. Learning, serving and leading. This how I would summarize what expects the new batch of ENGAGE Sport Coaches, the volunteering program targeting local youths with a passion for sports and social work. With a focus on blind cricket, deaf football and wheelchair basketball, 17 youths are joining 4 of the 2018 batch who have decided to renew their serving experience. The members of the program, aged between 17 to 24 years, are set to begin a ten month volunteering experience where they will partner with peers living with disabilities who share with them the same dedication and love for sports. If there is one easy way to build new relationships and create new connections, it is sports playing. All over the world there is an increase interest and recognition about the transformative role that playing sports can have in a youth’s personal development, harnessing her sense of self confide...

This piece was published in the beginning of November  2018 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times. Since day one, ENGAGE wanted to create a sustainable way for local youths to volunteering, giving few hours in a week to serve important but neglected. We knew that achieving impact through real volunteers, not full time nor paid, would not be easy and it would have required a strong investment in their personal development. Indeed, the most resource intensive part of volunteering management is capacity building, equipping volunteers with the right skills to be able to make the difference. After all, volunteering is a two way street, giving but also receiving, learning and growing. Volunteering is about personal development because a youth can put challenge herself, discover new passions or reexamine her future plans based on findings stemming from get engaged to help others. Whatever ENGAGE is doing is about promoting leadership and personal development for a good cause. Bel...

  This piece was published at the end of May/beginning of June 2019 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times.It can be found here:  http://sharing4good.org/article/promoting-inclusive-tourism-and-accessible-adaptive-adventures Can Nepal become a top destination in terms of inclusive tourism and accessible adventure travel? This is the bet that  Four Season Travel , one of the leading tour operators in the Country is making by not only creating new business opportunities but also by engaging and partnering with different players within the industry and more. ( Disclosure, Four Season Travel has been one of the sponsors of the Turkish Airlines ENGAGE Empowering League organized by ENGAGE ). When we talked about inclusive tourism and accessible adventure travel we refer to a niche segment within the broader travel industry, a segment that is growing exponentially all over the world and it is literally worth billions of dollars. We are talking about creating the conditions for ...

This piece was published on the 7th October  2018 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times.   Find full text here:  Leadership for the Good | Sharing4good Oftentimes problems at societal level derives from lack of communication, misunderstanding and rigidity in holding a personal view or position without being ready to listen to the others. We want to be right and set the course. We want to lead on our way and on our terms because we are seniors or because we are more self-confident and outspoken or because we are better educated or more fluent in a foreign language. We do not show respect or curiosity towards those who we perceive as subordinate or anyone else we perceive as less capable. Instead of common “win-win”, we go for our own win. In the field of leadership there has always been too much focus on the individual, the so called “leader” able to set a goal and ensure that her followers get clear direction, support and encouragement to move through and achieve the des...

  This piece was published in September 2018 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times. You will find here the full text of the piece:  Social Emotional Learning for personal development of children and youth | Sharing4good I have been reflecting on the role education plays in the lives of children and youths and how a learning institution can influence, for the better and in certain cases, also for the worst, their future. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the international benchmark for education quality run by  Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development  (OECD), in a publication released in 2017, highlights how emotions and positive feelings of students play a very important role in their educational outcomes. The report speaks of having students feeling truly involved and fully participating in what it refers as the “school community”, the system around which the learning process should evolved and progress. Frequently you read new...

This piece was published in July 2018 on Perspectives of The Himalayan Times. The full piece can be found on www.sharing4good.org  The importance of connections... | Sharing4good Being involved in the social sector since, let’s say since a while, I am always trying to understand how partnerships can be created and forged. Sometimes it is really about being able to connect with the right suitor. The problem is  that is so hard to get to that. You have to do a lot of “on desk research” and sometimes exercise a bit of public relations skills when you meet new people in official events. But also often in such rushed self-introductions, it is very hard to find the right opportunity to meet the right person plus it is not everybody’s cup of tea reaching out unknown folks. What if you are a bit shy or introvert? Yet there might be ways even for such persons who would be more comfortable talking to their cup of coffee rather than reaching out others. Obviously, having a “connector” so...