Report by: Prakriti and Prabriti Nepal – Rukmini Foundation Didis
Composed by: Nabin Aryal – Rukmini Foundation Program Manager
To remind our readers, the first Didi program (Mentoring program of Rukmini Foundation) was held this past June. As we reported then, it was just an introductory session, thus the present meeting can be considered as the first interactive Didi program of the year. 
On the 13th of July 2012, Didis (meaning elder sister or mentor in this case) and Bahinis (meaning younger sister or scholars of Rukmini Foundation) of Rukmini Foundation met after the scholars regular schooling hours at the school library of ASC. We Didis: Rasmita, Pramila, Prakriti, and Prabritii were very happy and excited to see all Bahinis present in the meeting.
As stated earlier, this was our first interactive meeting so we started with each other’s introduction and also explained to the scholars in details about the Didi program and the benefits they can gain from the program. After the short introduction sesion, we asked our Bahinis about what they did during a week of the summer vacation. They shared the activities they had done during the holidays, some of them said they were busy as usual helping their parents, some of them had visited their relatives, but most of them said that due to the amount of school assignment during the vacation, they could not enjoy the holidays. 
Playing games together made the interaction between us Didis and Bahinis much easier.
We felt our Bahinis deserved a break from work so we organized a few simple games that worked as an icebreaker and improved communications among the participants. We thoroughly enjoyed the game and the Bahinis seemed to be more interactive after these games.
As we had organized the meeting in the library, we also wanted to know whether Bahinis were interested in reading any extra materials apart from course book like storybooks, magazines, newspapers or novels available at the library. Almost all of the Bhainis replied that they were not very used to reading such extra materials. We found only one Bahini, Samjhana, who was interested in reading children’s magazine called “Muna” which she borrows from her neighbor. It looks like these Bahinis did not read any other material besides the textbooks because of lack of availability of books that interest them. In addition, unlike Samjhana, other Bahinis could not borrow interesting books from their neighbors. 
The Dids talked about the importance of reading other material besides textbooks because it will help them to learn about the changes that are happening in the world. It will also enhance their creativity, develop their ability to understand different viewpoints and also improve critical thinking ability.
After explaining these benefits, we decided to come up with news articles that will interest the Bahinis and discuss about it in the next Didi-Bahini Meeting, so that we can learn together about the ever changing world. We know this meeting was only a first step towards a meaningful mentoring program, however, this meeting was full of fun for both Didis and Bahinis and we are very excited about future possibilities!
Prakriti & Prabriti
Didis – Rukmini Foundation
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