Opportunities for mutual learning are highly valuable to MCC. One of the ways that MCC Nepal engages in mutual learning is through Learning Tours. For participants who come to Nepal, they gain the opportunity to hear first-hand stories of resilience that hopefully shape their opinion of “others” in a positive light (i.e. all people have the capacity to dream and build). For our partners and the communities they serve, our hope is that our posture of learning builds their sense of confidence and encourages them to carry on their good work.
In April 2019, MCC Nepal hosted its first “Learning Trek” around the theme of “Resilience”. Participants had the opportunity to learn about MCC and the work of our partners in several ways. First, they spent some time at our MCC office meeting our team and hearing an overview of our work here. Second, they visited the mental health rehabilitation home of our partner, KOSHISH. Finally, they spent the majority of the trip trekking through our partner Shanti Nepal’s remote project areas in northern Dhading District.
The group visited 4 different communities that were significantly impacted by the 2015 earthquake, and have since rebuilt homes, toilets, health clinics, drinking water systems and livelihoods opportunities with the support of Shanti Nepal and MCC.
We met with Mothers Groups and User Committees (communities responsible for maintaining public infrastructure like drinking water systems and clinics) to hear about their ability to recover after the earthquake, rebuild their communities, and gather community support to maintain these improvements. The trekking itself was quite challenging, and reminded our participants of the strength and resilience required to live in a place typified by climatic changes, steep terrain, lack of roads, and frequent natural disasters.
We were so impressed by our participants’ courage and willingness to learn. It was a memorable trip for us all!
Mennonite Central Committee Nepal 