Thursday, the 14th of August 2008, will always remain significant for GATE- Global Academy of Tourism & Hospitality Education, adding yet another cornerstone of its very foundation of making differences, learning, celebrating people and unleashing their true potential. The GATE College hosted the graduation ceremony of vulnerable young students who got opportunity to learn basics of cooking, hygiene & sanitation, book-keeping and customer service in GATE College in order to become self employed in their brand new street food cart which will soon be in the market to sale various delicacy that is possible to prepare and sale safely in the street.


On this auspicious graduation day, the dynamic social activist Ms Anuradha Koirala, from “Maiti-Nepal” joined the young participants and the project conductors to congratulate them for what they had achieved and to encourage them to work even harder after getting this wonderful opportunity. Similarly, Mr. Peter Dalglish, a well accomplished globally renowned children’s advocate highlighted the importance of young Nepalese students returning to the country and helping their people and community and also supported the spirit of the 16 underprivileged youths that were ready to set their new lives. When Mr. Dalglish was giving an example of how a 11 years old girl bumped into his jeep on desperation and how he started the vocational school which celebrated 28th anniversary in Sudan brought tears to many eyes in the event. Along with other important guest such as Ms Shirley Blaire, Director of Shree Mangaldeep School, supporting some 700 needy students for world-class education and Mr. Shambhu P. Poudyal, Director of Nabil Bank highlighted the importance of social corporate responsibility for New Nepal and why the young people need to take the lead.



Speaking at the function, the program co-coordinator Yuki Poudyal said “Peace begins from within” and Khem Raj Lakai, CEO of GATE college congratulated the graduates and welcomed all the chief guests and journalists from various media-house in the event as it turned out to be quite an exemplary and inspiring event for youth while serving their guests the graduates inaugurated their business in GATE College premises and earned their very first income by selling their delicacy to the guests and participants. Ms. Purnima Khadka, one of the graduating students expressed her sincere thanks to the donor and coordinator for empowering their lives. Students played a patriotic song which added another attraction to the program.



Project for peace was initiated by an internationalist and philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis on her 100th birthday. Since her 100th birthday she has given the opportunity to young students in the United States to turn their own idea of peace into reality and test it in different parts of the world. In the year 2007, undergraduate students from 84 colleges and universities competed for the 100 projects that Davis sponsored which had to be completed within the summer. The projects were aimed to motivate youth and challenge them to try their innovative design to bring different forms of peace.

Kathryn Wasserman Davis, the widow of Shelby Cullom Davis ’30, remains true to that commitment, as evidenced by a $5 million gift she and her son, Trustee Shelby M. C. Davis ’58, also gave to create an endowment for Princeton’s International Center through which thousands of young international students will implement the ideas for peace-building through various humanitarian projects. The center works to familiarize scholars with America—and to teach Americans more about the rest of the world. “The International Center is dedicated to fostering dialogue at a time when misunderstandings between nations and cultures could pose a serious threat,” Davis says. “I know my husband, who was passionate about encouraging cross-cultural exchange, would be as thrilled about this gift as I am.”



On the second year, one of the ideas for project for peace came from two Nepali students Yuki Poudyal, Kaushik Basnet and a Bolivian student Nicole Suzacs from St. Lawrence and Clarkson University in the state of New York. They proposed to build peace in lives of few Nepali youths. Their idea of peace was not just limited to stopping the war alone but empowering the youth – the future leaders to become better citizens. To achieve this, they proposed to provide youths from difficult financial background all the necessary tools they needed to become independent and generate income. Understanding the high demand for fast food and the booming food cart business in Kathmandu, they planned to provide at least 16 youths the opportunity to establish food cart business.

Altogether eight carts were handed over to the 16 members of Project of Peace. The carts of green and white color holds an attractive logo reading “Projects for peace” which certainly looks different and attractive from the regular carts we usually see in the market. These carts will be seen around places in Kathmandu such as Chakrapath, Sukedhara, Koteshwor, Chabhill where the participants of the project are committed to serve hygienically prepared good quality food for the people.

tags: gate, nepal, hotel-school, kathmandu, project-for-peace, society, human-needs, kathryn, khem