The Gyan Azhar Library was set up by Tiljala SHED in 2008 to provide a safe place for girls from the slum to read, study, borrow books, take part in activities such as health education classes and crafts as well as to meet their friends. The library is used by 700 girls between the ages of five and twenty but is desperately short of books. By raising money to buy books in English, Bengali, Urdu and Hindi we can help the girls with their education and help improve their prospects.
The Gyan Azhar Library is now 9 years old and the computers are out of date. There is no wifi and no internet access. With 700 girls making use of this tiny facility there are not enough books and no budget to supply the library with journals, newspapers and other publications. The library staff are graduates from our girl sponsorship programme. They work extremely hard for a tiny monthly stipend. We'd like to train and pay them properly.
This injection of funds will enable us to replace the old computers, to install wifi and internet access and to train the staff to help the girls get the very best out of the library. Internet access will open up the world, an opportunity so many of us take for granted. With the budget for books and a generous local benefactor who will let us have the books at a discount, we will be able to provide a wide range of books both for reading pleasure and to aid the girls' academic work.
By staying in education a sponsored girl gains the qualifications she needs to become financially independent. With economic power comes the ability to make life choices for herself. She can delay or even decide against marriage. She can earn a living and build up her savings. She is in control of her health and can make informed and healthy choices for her own children. Our sponsored girls from the last 20 years are pillars of the community and a shining example to these hopeful 15.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
