Georgie Kershaw

It’s made such a difference. It really does show the power of education, like, it can really transform lives. 

So, my name’s Georgie Kershaw. I’m a Partnerships Manager at Adara Group. 

When and how did you come to partner with Navitas? 

Rosie, who’s also in the partnerships team at Adara and our founder Audette actually met with the founder of Navitas, Rod and his wife Carol in, I think 2017, at a networking event. And that was just the start of a very warm connection. And then in 2019, we applied for a grant and we were successful. So that was very exciting. And that was for our feeder school program in Ghyangfedi.  

And then we applied for another grant in 2022, and we were also successful, which was super exciting. And that was our remote education work, which is similar to the Ghyangfedi work, but it was in Humla this time instead. So, we’ve had two rounds of amazing grants with the NET team that’s just been covering, I think five years, 2019 to 2024. And it’s just been great. 

What has been a key moment with your partnership with Navitas?  

There’s been a few key moments. I think for me personally, I’ve been working on the partnership for just over a year. And last year in 2023, we did a Bridging World’s challenge with Navitas staff, global staff. And that was very exciting. We used an online interactive tool called Kahoot, which allowed the Navitas team to really engage with the Adara team and understand the impact of their partnership through like trivia and case studies. So, that was probably a big highlight for me. 

And then I know we’ve had a few other things happened over the years. We had a Munch and Learn in 2021. I believe that was more about our Ghyangfedi work and how NET and Adara were able to partner to actually continue providing the service of education during COVID, which was extremely vital for us to be able to continue that work in that time. 

And then I think there was the Green Apple, we featured in that. 

It’s been a great five years. Every moment has been awesome. Just being able to let us give you guys examples through case studies of the impact you really are making and the power of education. So, it’s been great thanks to our partnership together. 

How has being a NET partner made an impact on your work and the lives of those involved in your NET-supported program?  

I think for me personally, it’s been great because there’s been constant touch points throughout the whole partnership. So, it’s just been amazing being able to go back and forth and be able to work together to make a difference in these remote communities, but also ensure that the staff at Navitas are engaged and able to connect with that work. So, it’s really making that impact as well there. 

I think we’ve impacted 1900 students, it was, last year in 2023 in Ghyangfedi, that’s 15 schools. And last year 52% of attendees of the schools were girls, which was great. And we know that keeping girls at school is going to reduce the risk of them being trafficked. So, that’s all thanks to Navitas. 

If I’d just delve a little bit more into the like two areas of our work. So, Ghyangfedi, that was the first grant that we got from Navitas. Adara started working there after the earthquake in 2015 and a lot of the buildings had been destroyed, schools, homes, everything like that. So, we started working there to sort of bring that community back to life again. And Navitas, through that grant a couple of years later, actually enabled us to expand our remote education work from the main school in Ghyangfedi to seven surrounding schools, which we call feeder schools. And that allowed students who were a little bit too far away from home to be able to access education closer to where they live. And it just made it so much more easier for them, which was fantastic. 

And then in Humla, we’ve been there for longer, 26 years. It’s extremely remote up near the Tibetan border in the fall, really rough terrain, very isolated, lack of access to essential services such as education. With Navitas, we were able to provide the scholarships to students to be able to return school. So, like, uniform, stationary, quality teachers as well, rebuilding some of the buildings. Yeah, it’s been an amazing time. Like I can’t even explain the impact that it’s had. 

We actually do have a story of a young…I’ll go with the one in Ghyangfedi, a young girl actually, her name’s Lapka. She studied at Ghyangfedi school and then pursued a nursing degree. She’s actually come back to the Ghyangfedi school to be the local school nurse, which is so incredible To see the impact that we’ve had on these children and the fact that now they’re coming back to their community, you need to work and give back. It’s just great. 

 What key achievements come to mind during your partnership with Navitas?  

I think going back to the support that we received through the first grant from NET and Ghyangfedi…obviously COVID-19 impacted the world. We really had to work together to be able to continue to provide that education in Ghyangfedi. So we, with the help of Navitas, we were able to introduce a distance-learning program and we broadcast lessons essentially by local teachers to the students in the region. That actually helped us reach over the 17,000 students, which was fantastic. 

And then we also created learning units sort of similar, but there was like from all the students attending Ghyangfedi school, they broke up into 34 groups, I think it was depending on where they lived in Ghyangfedi. And the older students would mentor the younger students that would pretty much just sort of help get homework ticking along and ensure they were on track with their learning outcomes. And we wouldn’t have been able to do that if not for Navitas’ support and grant at the time. 

So, we’re able to continue providing that remote education and breakdown the barriers to quality education as well. So that was probably a key achievement. 

And I’ve got one more. I’m on a roll. I just love this work. So yeah, we also introduced another big key achievement that we introduced at Ghyangfedi school first and now we’re doing it in Humla. It was the introduction of Plus Two classes. Essentially that’s like the final two years of schooling in secondary school. So, I guess in Australia, equivalent year 11 and 12, which previously just wasn’t provided in Ghyangfedi. That allows students to have more options with their employment and also their ability to go and study, tertiary study and further education as well. So, it allows students to do that in Ghyangfedi instead of having to travel elsewhere and be separated from their family. 

We just had a great partnership with Navitas and I’m sure you guys feel the same way. It’s been incredible. And also, you guys have touched every aspect of our work. Remote education work in Nepal, because you reached both of the areas that we support – so Ghyangfedi and Humla – which, both different – like Ghyangfedi more trafficking, I guess, and Humla just so remote and it’s made such a difference. 

So, we’re so grateful. And it really does show the power of education. Like you guys are the same. It can really transform lives and it has done so much for the children in these regions and like living in poverty.