Kathmandu, August 1, 2018: Back then, Saturdays used to be as usual like any other weekend but the Saturday now spent on EmpowHer is different, interesting and more productive. Every Saturday is a chance to learn something new and grow into a better person. The session had always been productive with its different and new topic in every session and the cohort of Empowher 2018 got a chance to learn various new things from skills for everyday life to things regarding our project.
The session that was held on Saturday, 28 July was filled with curiosity as there were many charts and sketches hung on the wall where one of those charts showed how far we have come. The tenth session started with the energizer i.e. revealing our current emotion done by Yajaswi Rai followed by the session responsibility handover for the day.
Nancy Agrawal, one of the changemakers and winners of EmpowHer 2017 shared her experience of EmpowHer journey and talked about opportunities and challenges that she faced. She shared how EmpowHer and its session had helped her grow and bring changes within herself and to speak up for the things that create impact in every woman’s life starting with her family. She also motivated the cohort of EmpowHer 2018 to grab the small things and learnings throughout the journey.
After a short break, we had a session on Conflict Management by Amuda Mishra where Appreciative Inquiry was focused on as it is an important tool to manage the conflict. The 5Ds are also important elements i.e. Definition, Discover, Design and Destiny. The session was followed by activity on EmpowHer in next 2 years to understand more about 5Ds.
The next session was conducted by the Guest Speaker, Samiskha Rai, Co-founder of Pack my Lunch where she talked about Financial Management and important steps to consider while starting a business. She shared her experience giving us an example of why it is necessary to have a long term vision while starting a business. Along with all steps, we learnt about Incubator programs and Acceleration programs.
After lunch, Amuda Mishra conducted the session on Budget Management and Milestone where we learned about Milestone Chart and its various aspects. We also learned that it is very essential to understand milestone chart as it helps in our project planning and budgeting. Following the session, Yajaswi Rai explained about various upcoming events and dates. The discussion was mainly focused on Opportunity Optimization where the team of three members was divided and handed Rs. 1000 for the task.
Later, we had the session on Wow, How and Now lead by Amuda Mishra where we talked about pitching and ways to refine our pitch to grab the attention of our audience. We understood that the speaker has only 90 seconds to grab the attention of the audience and to do that, one has to follow the rule of Wow, How and Now. Along with the learning, we refined our pitch that we had done as our last session assignment and presented in front of everyone. Then, suggestion and feedbacks were given to everyone. We were also taught about SMART goals where S stands for: Specific, M for Measurable, A for Attainable, R for Relevant and T for Time bound and told to always consider this aspect while doing any project.
The last session of the day ended with laughter and fun as it was a group activity where everyone was divided into 4 groups and then chosen as Leader, Delegator, Builder and Observer within the group. The activity was about teamwork and the power that every position holds and his/her willingness and effort, so that every member can perform their best and bring the best outcome. The leader was responsible to delegate the instruction to delegator and delegator had to pass it to builder whereas observer would observe their activities.
At last, the session ended with a feedback form and evaluation of the day as usual. The session was very fruitful and productive as we got the chance to learn about financial management and its importance to establish any startup business. We also learned that a simple Thank you and Sorry can help minimize the conflict between two people and within our group.
By Sumi Limbu and Sindhu Thapa
Sumi Limbu and Sindhu Thapa are changemakers of EmpowHER 2018.
