Train 9 girls in employment that empowers

Meet Uma!

Uma is passionate about wresting. She is the first female wrestler in her family and the only female wrestler from her district that has wrestled with men in local level mud competitions.

Caught fighting with her brother one day, Uma’s father saw in her skills that would rival most boys in her village. Without any training, Uma managed to win silver in her first block-level competition. Uma’s father was so proud that he put up a banner of her success in their village to celebrate!

Fueled with energy and a new-found love for wrestling, Uma started to train at home with her father. Uma began winning competition after competition, and soon reached the state and national level. However, it wasn’t all easy for her. As it is unconventional for a girl to wrestle, she faced tremendous backlash from her community.

Fortunately, her talent and the continued support from her father helped her persevere. In the 11th grade, she won 2 golds and 1 silver in national level wrestling competitions and earned Rs. 400,000 as prize money. In 2016, Mann Deshi financially supported her enroll in a National Institute of Coaching diploma. Today she is a role model for many female wrestlers in the state of Maharashtra. Uma is a free-lance wrestling and earns over Rs. 25,000 every month. In 2018 with the help of funding which was received through globalgiving and other supporting partners we sent 5 girls to become a gym trainer to K11 academy and Uma was one of them. The total cost for each girl was $600. Today Uma has a job and she is a coach + Gym trainer in Pune.

We have also supported another 5 athletes become fitness instructors by partnering with K11 Academy in Mumbai and Pune. Rani is one such young woman who was a professional kabbadi player. Today she earns Rs. 12,000 a month and is the only earning member of her family.

Impact

• -  A reduction in gender inequality and child marriage that allows rural girls to live more fulfilling and healthy lives, thereby increasing the respect they receive from the rest of society
• -  Improving the income stability of several families that depend on these girls as primary breadwinners, thereby lifting current and future generations out of poverty
• -  Creating a culture in rural areas that recognizes the innate potential of and encourages girls to look beyond the agricultural and domestic spheres for employment