Pardada Pardadi Girls Vocational School (PPGVS) is based in Anupshahar, a small area of villages in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Four bumpy hours east of New Delhi, this area is one of the country's poorest and most crime-ridden provinces.

PPGVS is a registered school in the state of Uttar Pradesh from class three to class ten. We hope to be registered soon through class 12.

From an initial enrollment of 45 girls from the poorest families of the area, PPES now has 996 girls. Our ultimate objective is to educate, provide job training, and offer jobs to at least one daughter of each of the 50,000 poor families of Anupshahar.

We are a vocational school, which means half the day in school is spent on regular studies like Math, Science, and Hindi and the rest of the day is spent learning vocational skills.

The school provides students with uniforms, books, shoes, three meals a day and bicycles or buses for those who live too far to bike.

Our students are trained in the art of producing home furnishings such as table covers, sheets and curtains. The skill-set they acquire allows them to look for a better professional future and a better life!

The girls run to the library at every break! With the help of our librarian and volunteers, we try to provide the students a meaningful reading experience and to nourish their curiosity.

Our students gain life skills such as learning about leadership, health and money management. The girls also learn dance, theater, music and... sports! They love Cricket and Softball!

For each day a girl attends school, PPES deposits ten rupees into her bank account. Upon graduation, the student can access this money on the day of her marriage (after the age of 18) or her 21st birthday - whichever comes first. Thus, by the time she graduates after class 12, she should have approximately 30,000 rupees (US$600).

Preeti's mum and dad work in the fields. She has 2 sisters and 2 brothers. They all sleep together in the only room of the house. No electricity. No toilet.

Photo from Progress Report 'Pardada Pardadi's new Endeavors!!'

Photo from Progress Report 'Pardada Pardadi's new Endeavors!!'

Photo from Progress Report 'Pardada Pardadi's new Endeavors!!'