Empower girls like Priti in slums in Pune, India

Can you imagine having to make the decision between school or caring for your younger siblings?

 Many young girls face this every day in India, including Nitara.

Nitara, 12 years old, lives in extremely poor conditions, in a metal sheet house in Pune. Both her parents are daily wage workers, labouring hard, long, hours to earn an insubstantial income for their family. This puts Nitara in a position of responsibility to look after her two younger siblings and the running of the house. Nitara felt overburdened by these many responsibilities, especially for her age.

Nitara couldn’t attend school, and was missing crucial education, but it seemed that nothing could be done.

Our partners’ social worker noticed that Nitara wasn’t attending local meetings and chased up her school, to see that she failed to make it there too. They decided to visit her at home to access the situation. Soon after, they met with Nitara, who was isolated and overstretched. Nitara expressed her wish to return to school and continue her studies, so our partners in Pune's team sprung into action, to help achieve her goal.

After meeting with Nitara's parents and discussing the importance of her education and wellbeing, they assisted with her younger siblings’ admission into a nursery, to help with childcare.

Nitara would now be free to continue her studies and pursue being a police officer! We got reports from her teachers saying that she is excelling, has successfully completed all assignments and is improving her grades by the day.

There are still countless young girls who are facing difficulties accessing education. With your support, our partners can continue their valuable work in helping girls achieve their dreams.

Thank you.

Links:

• Link to our website to find out more and see our projects!
• Karuna Trust Instagram for updates and opportunities!

Too often, the poorest families in India are forced to choose between educating their daughters or supporting their families.

Sadly, Chaaya’s family were faced with this very choice. During the pandemic, while schools were closed, Chaaya had helped her mother, Daksha, in her day job as a domestic helper. The extra support and income during such a troubling time was a blessing for their family of nine. So much so that, once schools reopened, Daksha could simply not afford to let Chaaya, 14, return to school.

‘My mother had said we could get more work and more money if I stayed,’ Chaaya recalls.

Her mother questioned the need for her education. ‘She asked me, “What will happen if you study more? Nothing will change.”’

Chaaya was devastated, even though she knew how much her family struggled to survive.

Fortunately, one of Green Tara Foundation’s (GTF) community support workers was active in the area and she was able to contact Chaaya. The meeting left her with a renewed confidence, and she was offered educational materials and notebooks to ease the burden on her family’s finances.

The community support worker visited Chaaya’s home and met with Daksha. She was able to inform them about the benefits of Chaaya’s education, not just for Chaaya, but for the family and community as well. During their talks, Daksha was also able to learn about her rights and schemes that could support her financially.

Now, with her mother’s support, Chaaya is back at school, where she belongs. And she wants to complete her education and help other girls who are like her.

‘I feel like GTF is doing important work for girls in need, like me,’ Chaaya says. ‘It is only because of them that we can finish our education.’

Your support gives girls just like Chaaya the tools they need to stay in education and out of child labour. Thank you.

Links:

• Link to our website to find out more and see our projects!

Despite the horrific reality of child marriage, its causes are not a mystery. Social and cultural pressure, combined with extreme financial insecurity, is more than enough to persuade many families living in extreme poverty to do the unthinkable and marry off their underage daughters into a life of potential abuse and household slavery.

Mangesh knows these pressures well. Illiterate and with a family of 6, including 3 daughters, too often he was unable to find work as a blacksmith in Maharashtra. Struggling even to feed his daughters, it wasn’t long before his own relatives began encouraging them to marry them off to alleviate the financial strain, despite them barely being teenagers.

His daughters, of course, had other ambitions – they wanted to stay in school. But with barely enough to put food on the table, the cost of education for his daughters was impossible.

Fortunately, one of our partners was conducting a free workshop that Mangesh’s wife attended. While there, she learnt about the illegality of child marriage and the importance of girls’ education. When she returned home she persuaded Mangesh to attend one of these workshops himself.

He was glad he did. He was able to meet community representatives who gave him advice on how to handle his finances and communicated the importance of educating his daughters.

The knowledge he received over multiple discussions transformed his thinking. Now, he champions his daughter’s education and autonomy over their own life choices. He even spreads the word to other men in the community, too.

“I decided to give her a good education that would help her get a good job in the future. Now her future will definitely be bright,” Mangesh says.

Your donations mean that fathers just like Mangesh can get the support they need to transform their thinking; becoming the biggest champions of their daughters’ education, instead of the greatest obstacles to it. Thank you.

Living in a slum in Pune, Manasi, 44, lives hand to mouth. Her husband passed away 6 years ago.  Manasi was then alone in the care for her severely disabled adult daughter. Here, she shares the difficulties she has faced due to the coronavirus pandemic and the huge difference your support has made: 

“I was working in a restaurant as a cleaning lady before Covid-19 pandemic started. When the pandemic started, the Government shut down all the restaurants. I lost my job so income stopped completely. I was so shocked. I had no money saved with me and had so many big worries.

My daughter can’t walk or talk. After my husband died, I need to be at home at least half a day so I can work only part time. Hence I received only half day’s payment. Because of this, I had no savings at all.  

Somehow we were surviving. Some days were worse than others. There were two days when we ate only bread and tea. I heard about a project that was distributing grocery kits,so my neighbour gave me their number. I called from my neighbour’s phone and asked for help for food. The next day, a social worker from the project came and gave us a grocery package that would last us at least for two months. That night, I ate until I was full. 

Around that time, I fell down and broken my hand.  I needed an operation on my hand but I could not afford it. I had no money. But there were also questions like, who will look after my daughter? I did not have any relatives in the city. Again, this project helped me with this. They provided me with more groceries and with assistance so I could go to the hospital and get treatment. 

When I received this help, it gave me confidence that there are positive actions and people in the world.”

Thank you for helping Manasi and others in her community that are facing such dire challenges at this time. Your support is really valued.

"I’m Aatisha and I’m in 9th standard. I'm 13 years old. I live in the slum area of Vishrantwadi, in Pune.

I live with my grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunty, and my father. My father is a labourer, working on the construction sites and my mother died 4 years ago. My grandfather is very old hence he has to do whatever job he can find. My grandmother works as domestic help. My uncle cannot work as he is mentally not well.

In my house, everyday my father would come home drunk and fight with my grandfather and my grandmother. I didn’t like it when he fought with them. I was feeling there was no one for me in the world but the project’s social worker helped me come out of this situation. 

The pandemic started and my school was shut down. It seemed that my education would come to a stop. I didn’t have a smartphone to join online classes and I could not afford to buy one. I was feeling very sad, but what to do?

The social worker came to my house and enquired about me and my situation about studying in school. I felt I was cared for because of her. She gave me a laptop so I could attend my studies remotely. We also come together in fewer numbers and with precautions for Covid-19 and attend class. We sit at a distance, wearing a mask. Sometimes, our teacher showed us some videos which were funny also but very educational. Many girls like me are benefitting very much from this. I also made friends in class, so it doesn’t feel as if I’m only at school to learn.  After joining class, I am out of my house for 2 hours and that gives me the energy and inspiration for education from other girls in class. I don’t fear the coronavirus but I fear my home situation in lockdown. But due to class, I get to study. I also am relieved from housework and all of this together has given me confidence. I am also going to give my exam for SSC next year. So thank you for giving me the opportunity for studying during these times, as well as providing the groceries for my family when my father and grandparents were out of work. It has made a great difference to me and my family.”