World change starts with educated children, and yet so many children around the world face immense barriers to access to education. For both of our speakers, adversity has been both the obstacle to and the drive behind persevering through challenges to be able to continue their path to education and success in personal and professional life. Join us this March 8th for “International Women's Day Breakfast: Two Tales of Global Impact” to hear their inspiring life stories!

*Tickets included coffee and breakfast
**Audio and Visual Content will be recorded by the Mettā Team

[Speakers]

Neelam, Room to Read Girls' Education Program Graduate 
From an urban slum area of northwest region of Delhi, Neelam was destined to a life of poverty. Born to a father who works as a fresh produce seller in the local market, and mother who is a domestic helper, Neelam grew up to become the backbone of her family, taking care of her asthmatic mother and brothers and sisters. The turning point in Neelam's life came in year 2005, when she became part of Room to Read's Girls' Education Program (GEP) after which, for the first time, Neelam came to know of a different world where she would learn and do interesting things. Despite the many challenges she encountered during the program, Neelam has successfully attained her Bachelor degree in Commerce in 2015 and currently works in the Department of Telecommunications at the Ministry of Communications and and IT.

Elisa Chongbang, Multicultural Learning Facilitator, Hong Kong Christian Service
Elisa is a proud Hong Kong Nepalese woman, whose grandfather came to the city in the 1960s as an officer in the British Army. Hong Kong is her “Karmabhoomi”, meaning a place whose growth she will aid in and contribute to making it a racially harmonious and inclusive city. Since 2014, Elisa has been working in providing direct services to ethnic minorities as a part of her career. She produced the RTHK CIBS radio program called “Role Model: Someone To Look Up To” which aims at motivating the HK Nepali youth by interviewing 13 empowered HK Nepali people, as well as a short video titled “Namaskar Hong Kong” through the WeDo Global Social Issue Video Competition. Her work has helped to preserve Hong Kong Nepali culture and continuously works at improving the self-identity of numerous Hong Kong Nepali youth. She was awarded the Hong Kong Unison Scholarship, which provided her with further training on social policy and advocacy. She is a volunteer with PathFinders, advocating maternity rights for foreign domestic helpers. She is also a Social Justice fellow of ResolveFoundation. Furthermore, she has been volunteering at an organisation that works on promoting mental health care in Hong Kong for the past three years. She wants to keep working on empowering ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, mental health care for children and adolescents, as well as the rights of foreign domestic workers. In her spare time, she likes to sew, write, read and brainstorm new ideas for her future projects.