Social

Dear Members,

GAA is doing a "Books Drive" to support RUKMENI PUSTAKALAYA , situated in Chipri Daha, Rukum.

Any books (old text books, novels - english, nepali, comics, reference books) you can donate, would be valuable asset to the library.

Please drop your books at the GAA office in Thamel before Saturday 26, October 2008 and we will deliver it to the library.

We look forward to your support.

Hope you have a very colorful and enjoyable TIHAR.

GAA Family

Dear Members,

As you must all be aware by now that the moderator of GAA Fr Greg Sharkey has been recalled by the Nepal Jesuit Society to give his full time to the Human Resource Development Centre in Sanepa. The Regional Superior Fr. Lawrence Maniyar has also informed us that for the moment the NJS does not have the resources to send anyone to GAA at the moment.

In light of this and the general view amongst members that operations of the GAA must be professionalized for its further development, the current GAA Board and the Executive Committee formed a Restructuring Advisory Committee which has proposed that the Constitution of the GAA must be amended to facilitate ways in which to make the day to day operations of the Association more professional.

On 31st August, a clothes drive followed by a concert by the popular band KUTUMBA was held at GAA in the aid of the flood victims. The event jointly organised by Youth Initiative, WOREC and Kutumba was supported by GAA among many other organisations.

Approximately Rs. 1 Lakh in ticket sales and contribution and a total of 650kgs of clothes was collected.

After the successful medical camp for victims of the annual flood in Gangapur of Banke district, the GAA was granted a fund of NRs 4,44,444/- by the Le Meridian Gokarna Golf Club to do relief work for flood victims.

This fund was used by the GAA to build a community shelter for the poorest of the poor of Ranipur village,Neulapur VDC in Bardia. The land and the timber required for the building was donated by the local community of Ranipur which lies just outside the Bardia National Park.

A group of 40 volunteers lead by Mr. Paresh Shrestha and Mr. Yugdeep Thapa organised a day long hike to Champadevi hill on the southern rim of the valley. The purpose of the hike was not just to take our members closer to nature but also to clean up Champadevi Hill which is a popular picnic site and does have its litter and garbage scattered all along the trail and the top which is presents a beutiful scenary of Kathmandu valley. The team brought down 30 kgs of garbage.

The trip was a success thanks to Rotary Club of Yala for providing T-shirts and Sherpa Expeditions and Trekking , Sigmacon and Saurav Shrestha for providing us with the transportation and the generous help of Sameer jung Thapa as the official photographer and The Wave magazine for the coverage.

To increase peaceful and constructive participation of youth of Kathmandu valley in the political process of the nation, it is important that they become aware of the issues of other places outside the valley. To this end, this activity will train 70 youth volunteers on human rights, as well as the current peace process of Nepal, and mobilize them throughout the country, including urban and rural areas in all five development regions. The volunteers will interact with the local youth, journalists, and government employees, among others. Their experiences during the field trip will be shared with other youth of the valley through various platforms including forums, dialogues in schools around the valley, publication in youth magazines, and online media. It is assumed that by visiting places outside the valley to learn of the conditions of other places and views of the people there, youth in Kathmandu will be more positively engaged in the political process after their return.