Sharmila Thapa, 20, Ashmita Giri, 17, Rejina Shahi, 17, Sabita Subedi, 18, Sujan Shrestha, 17 and team leader Bimala Pyakurel were declared winners of the challenge and handed over the cheque of £1000 amid a function organized at Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu on December 22. The group was awarded the sum of money for their idea to create "Road Safety Campaign in Society" in Nepalgunj.
"We worked on the plan for four hours and it was an awesome experience," said Sharmila. All the five institutes that participated in the challenge, namely, Seti Mahakali Nursing Campus, Kanchanpur, Madhya Paschim Nursing Campus, Nepalgunj, Tansen Nursing School, Palpa, Balaju School of Engineering and Technology, Kathmandu, and Uttarpani Technical School, Dhankuta, were given training on December 19 and 20. All the teams then presented their innovative ideas before the judges on December 21.
"A lot of road mishaps take place in our city, and through our awareness campaign we hope to minimize this," said an optimistic Rejina. According to the group, the plan is to hold trainings about road safety and then reciprocate the same to 15 other places. "This way, the participants can pass on the message to other people thus creating the awareness bubble," shared Sabita.
However, the plan developed by the group of six will be further worked on to make it better and the amount awarded to them will be released subsequently. A video of the winning team in action will be created to spread the message of their project. The video will be posted on YouTube so that it can garner votes for the regional challenge which will take place between winners from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The winner of the regional challenge will get an opportunity to work with a company in the United Kingdom that will hone their entrepreneurship skills.
British Council, Nepal initiated the Enterprise Challenge since 2008, the same year it was launched in all regions.
"Entrepreneurship is key to the development and success of Nepal," said Rabet Monro, Country Director, British Council, Nepal, in a press statement, adding, "Through this competition we are encouraging young people to come up with innovative ideas that are practical and demonstrably self-sustaining. If they can achieve that then we will be delighted to help them get off the ground." One of the main requirements of the competition was sustainability, said team leader Bimala.
The British Council supports the winning team for a year and then it is the responsibility of their college to carry on with the project. But as the students pass their schooling and move on, the project usually collapses.
Last year, Seti Mahakali Nursing Campus won the Enterprise Challenge, 2009, by presenting their innovative idea of students counseling services to the needy youth through a "Counseling Centre" that would help students choose the best career suiting their ability.
However, British Council believes youth are the leaders of tomorrow and the trainings and experience provided to them would prepare them for leadership roles by the time they reach maturity. Hence, it has given continuity to the leadership programs despite skepticisms. At the moment, British Council´s program that focuses on youth are Global Xchange, Global School Partnerships, Skills for Employability and Climate Change (BC´s International Climate Champions).
For these young girls, the achievement of winning the challenge is enthralling and encouraging at the same time. "Besides nursing, which is our career, we always wanted to serve the society. This challenge gave us the opportunity to do so and we are going to continue this."
To participate and keep yourself updated about the British Council programs log in to www.britishcouncil.org/nepal.
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