Strength TogetHER 7 - Session 9

October 2, 2021

I AM GRATEFUL FOR

"The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see." – Mary Davis

Lokopakar is a youth-based organization that is currently running four projects among which strength together is one of its projects where a group of girls from different backgrounds meet virtually and share their stories, insecurities, ideas, and perspective and help each other grow. In each session, a moderator is provided who listens, appreciates, and guides the participants.

On 2nd October 2021, we conducted our ninth session on the topic " I am Grateful For." Around 12 girls virtually came together to share what they are grateful for. It was quite a self-reflecting session.

Our moderator for the session was Ms. Nasana Bajracharya. Ms. Bajracharya loves to work with youth. Currently, she is leading communications at an educational nonprofit organization changing stories in Nepal. Nasana has been part of the Leo Club of Kathmandu Alka for three years where she helped the youth club grow by taking the role of Club Secretary and club President in two consecutive years. She led several school programs and awareness programs through the club level. Nasana is very enthusiastic about building a sustainable lifestyle and is currently pursuing Masters in Sustainable Development at Kathmandu University School of Education. She loves public speaking, engaging in community projects, and social service. 

As soon as our moderator finished introducing herself, we started sharing what we are grateful for. 

Here's what our speakers are grateful for:

Our first speaker shared that she is grateful to her mother. She mentioned that her family had suffered severely during the pandemic which still has an impact on her mental health. She still gets panic attacks, but she feels secure as her mother is always by her side in her hard times.

Our second speaker mentioned that she figured out her sister was struggling with mental health issues and she got the treatment at the right time. Now our speaker is grateful to see her sister advocating mental health issues.

Our third speaker shared that she is grateful to her parents for all their selfless love, care, and support. She shared that now she has a newborn in her family which helped her realize how much our parents put their effort into our upbringing.

Our fourth said that she is grateful for the life we have. She is grateful for how each day brings us new joy and new experiences. She believes that we should be grateful to even little things around us to find the essence of life.

Furthermore, we discussed how appreciating each other, showing gratitude, and giving attention to each other make our human bonds stronger. Gratitude brings positivity which boosts us emotionally. We learned to be grateful for small things and find happiness in little things from the stories shared by our fellow participants.

Our one hour-long session ended spreading positivity and the girls virtually bid goodbye thanking Strength TogetHER for being such a safe space.

I am Aahana Dhakal, Cohort coordinator of cohort 7, learning by listening and sharing stories in the Strength TogetHER family.