The Personal Project (P2) is the culmination of all learning in the MYP. Students are asked to take their learning and apply it to a topic they are passionate about. From sports to arts, technology and medicine, environmental issues to human rights, students work on the topic of their choice for 6-8 months and present their in-depth findings and conclusions to their family, teachers and friends during the P2 showcase.

Then-Grade 10 student Ryleigh’s P2 project was one of the outstanding projects last school year. It focused on an amazing social worker’s initiative of rescuing children of incarcerated mothers in Nepal, and providing them with a residence and education in a newly built children’s home. Pushpa Basnet, an inspiring young woman, said “no” to the idea of forcing children to live in prison. She was determined to do all she could to give these children a chance for a hopeful future. Pushpa challenged governmental regulations and set about fundraising to build a home in order to give these children a chance for a hopeful future. She founded Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC), and combined the limited funding from the Nepalese government with the bunch of individual donations to build the Butterfly House, a nurturing and loving home that 40 children, aged 9 months to 19 years, can now call home. Pushpa also runs a programme that teaches mothers how to create handcrafts so they can earn their living after they are released from prison.

Moved by Pushpa’s story, Ryleigh wanted to take action immediately and contribute to this worthy initiative. She met with each grade level lead teacher and explained the project to get their support, and she organised a book drive across the school where she left boxes around the pods of different grade levels. In the end, she was impressed and touched by the 2500 books donated - a feat which clearly shows the CIS community’s big heart. Ryleigh had saved some money to ship the books to Nepal; however, with this impressive number of books, she had to ask for her father’s professional help in logistics. He got his Nepalese co-worker to help get the books shipped.

Ryleigh visited the Butterfly Home during its grand opening in May 2016. It was a

life-changing experience for Ryleigh to meet Pushpa and the children in person, see the home with her own eyes and witness the transformational impact this young woman has been making in her community. You can find out more about this courageous young woman and her initiative that touched many families’ lives, visit this website.

Ryleigh exemplifies caring and generosity, and is one of the many CIS students who are willing to take action and make a change in the world. We are proud of her contribution in this noteworthy initiative to improve Nepalese children’s quality of life and on successfully applying her MYP knowledge into her P2 project. We are confident that her curiosity, compassion and drive will bring her success in her IB DP studies.