Our Story
When Vanessa Martinez first began visiting the English classes at Karuna Girls School (KGS) in 2014, she was struck by the eagerness of the students to learn. In every classroom, eyes twinkled with curiosity and smiles broadened with the anticipation of new lessons and games. In each class, she noticed that there were always a few girls who were truly extraordinary. Their English was impressive, and their ability (and enthusiasm) to learn and work inspiring. KGS is small, and the students in every class differ significantly in academic achievement, age, and English proficiency. With the additional constraints of limited resources, this makes it extremely difficult to teach and cater to the needs (and potential) of every girl. Vanessa wanted to design a program that would bring highly talented students together in one room and she wanted to engage them by exploring the importance of their own voice and encouraging them to explore their community through a new lens. Equally important, she wanted to offer them mentorship and training in transferable and employable skills that would benefit them for years to come. She found no better framework to accomplish these goals than that of journalism. With the help and support of the school's favorite English teacher, Sunil Baniya, and another international volunteer, Manuel Schneider, she began a journalism program in 2015 with a group of 13 girls.
In the first half of the year, girls learned about journalism and its principals, and began developing the computer and writing skills they needed to make their own publication. The group met twice a week for two hours after school. Under the guidance of the project managers, they also went on village walks to re-examine their community from the point of view of a reporter. Students were encouraged to inquire, and many discussions revolved around their rights to ask questions, voice their opinions, and disseminate information. They also learned about and practiced organizational and leadership skills.
In the beginning, Girl Reports lost almost half of its participants due to the many barriers that girls in Nepal face every day: early marriage, lack of transportation, poverty, household responsibilities, and the conservative thinking of their parents. This made the importance of our program all the clearer.
At the end of its first year in operation, Girl Reports took a field trip to the nation’s capital, Kathmandu, where participants gave a special presentation to adult professionals, including journalists, on what they had learned in the program. This exposure trip gave students the opportunity to travel outside their villages and learn about their country. It was also an excellent training opportunity through which the girls practiced public speaking. Most importantly, however, was the opportunity they had to meet professional women (especially journalists) from their own country, who gave them invaluable encouragement and advice for the future. During the presentation, the girls were able to express themselves clearly in English and they asked excellent questions. They did an incredible job of discussing the principles of journalism they learned and exhibiting the many skills they had developed. The confidence and pride they gained through this experience was a fulfilling and inspiring end to the first year of the program for everyone involved.
Since then, the core group of dedicated Girl Reports participants has worked tirelessly to learn and publish their community news magazine – recruiting new girls to join in 2018. In order to serve our participants and grow and improve the program, Girl Reports invested in developing a talented and dedicated team of professionals in 2019. Since then, we have worked together to formalize the organization’s legal entity, establish sustainable operations, expand its services, develop a unique curriculum, and implement a formal evaluation process.