NATCHITOCHES – The non-profit organization Empower Nepali Girls will offer a unique fundraising experience in which individuals can participate in a virtual cooking class streamed live from Kathmandu, Nepal. The class will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28 with participants preparing momos, traditional Nepali dumplings. Participants who sign up will receive the recipe and a grocery list through email 10 days prior to the event. The cost to participate is a suggested donation of $20-$120.
The fund raiser is taking place in conjunction with a service-learning experience in which Northwestern State University students and faculty will travel to Nepal over spring break to share information about physical and mental health in remote areas of Nepal.
Dr. Patrice Moulton, professor of psychology at NSU, became involved with Empower Nepali Girls several years ago and has made several trips to Nepal. She and Dr. Shaun Wheat, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, will lead a group of graduate students from the Department of Psychology and a student from the Doctor of Education program. This will be Wheat’s third trip to Nepal. The Ed.D. student, Angela Wilson, is faculty chef at Delgado Community College, and will lead the cooking class. All proceeds will go towards scholarships for Empower Nepali Girls, which provides mentoring, career guidance and subsistence for girls and young women who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend school and pursue careers in medicine, engineering, business, teaching and other professions.
Moulton said the psychology students will conduct school and home assessment visits, distribute scholarships, conduct a therapy techniques workshop for a peer cohort graduate group in Nepal and complete approved qualitative research activities.
Wheat will lead a rural health initiative, distribute materials and information regarding maternal mortality rates, train health workers and deliver safety kits with basic first aid equipment and medical supplies to families in a remote village. She consulted with a medical doctor in Nepal to identify the need for thermometers, antiseptic ointment, bandages and betadine along with instructions for use.
In addition to fund raising, students prepared for the experience by researching cultural issues of poverty, mental health, physical health and how to link with global initiatives.
Individual projects correspond with teach member’s skill set as the group visits schools and interacts with the girls receiving ENG scholarships. Moulton said they will utilize their theory and therapy training to design workshops and learn how to apply qualitative methods. Their research will be presented during NSU’s Research Day April 18.
Tickets for the momos cooking demonstration are available at https://nsu.la/MomosTickets.
Information on Empower Nepali Girls is available at http://www.empowernepaligirls.org/.
