Empower Girls from Mumbai's Red Light Area

A very happy Women's Day to all of you amazing supporters who believe in equal opportunities for all genders, and support this cause by donating to us, donating to other Feminist organisations, in the work you do everyday, in how you carry yourself and who you show up as in the world everyday.

This Women's Day marks the 10th year anniversary of Kranti. In the past 10 years, Kranti's girls have become the first girls from India's red-light area to study abroad, received UN awards for their social justice work, given 25+ TEDx talks around the world, and performed their own play in front of nearly one million audience members in India, the US, and UK - they were also featured on BBC during their performances at Edinburgh Fringe last year. In 2016, Kranti's alternative school was named a Top 10 for the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, and Kranti girls currently study abroad in London, Rome, Chicago, Washington, and Los Angeles.

This is not to say the 10 years haven't had challenges. In fact, if we start going into that, this report is going to stretch into an entire book - haha! We have struggled with everything from lice infestations, to self-harm, from severe funding shortfalls to coping academically after falling out of the education system for many years. We have had girls leave Kranti because they didn't want to be social change leaders. Our team members have had severe burnout. 

But, we've gotten by with a little help from you. Actually - with a lot of help from you! Transforming marginalised girls into agents of social change, changing society's perceptions about what girls are capable of - these are not jobs for one, or even for a few. A revolution in gender dynamics is a job we can only do if we all do it together. Thank you for working with us - for donating to us, for volunteering your time with us, mentoring and supporting our Krantikari girls, sharing our story with your family and friends, and for always being there for us through our successes and failures. 

10 years is a long time, and we often pause and ask ourselves - is the change taking too long, are we doing enough? But what is 10 years, or 20, to change a tens of thousands of years old social mindset? So, here is cheers to another decade of us working together to transform marginalised young girls into revolutionaries!