In December of 2008, Vancouver art therapist and teacher Gretchen Ladd travelled to Pokhara, Nepal. Her suitcase was not filled with climbing apparatus, trekking shoes or protein bars; her bags were filled with paint, pastels, beads, glitter and fun. Gretchen arrived to teach sixteen counsellors, social workers, orphanage staff and interested folks how to use art materials in a therapeutic way to support traumatized children. This was Nepal House's first foray into training staff from other organizations. One of our mandates at Nepal House is to create capacity in Nepal and this invitation was sent out to many organizations and many answered the call.
For ten days, the sixteen students met with Gretchen as she not only shared concepts of art therapy, but provided opportunities for the students to explore the art experience for themselves. The outcome was not only beautiful art, but a desire to continue the process after Gretchen left the country. Her seeds were planted in germane hearts and the students have kept their promise and have met monthly since Gretchen has returned to Canada.
What made this experience even more special for Nepal House was that cooperation in the Kingdom of Nepal between NGO's is not a common practice. There is indeed a great deal of competition between organizations for whatever few rupees or international dollars are available. Thus the coming together of persons from so many organizations and working together for ten days with the common goal of increasing their knowledge to better support children, is seen as a special accomplishment, and more so because it was the students who implemented the group that continues to see each other for peer support.