Empower girls like Priti in slums in Pune, India

Programme managers summary

During the last 6 months the project has implemented home visits more intensively as a means to making contact directly not only with the girls, but with their mothers.  The team has recognised that when the mothers feel confident and convinced about the safety of their girls they allow them much more freedom.

A particular highlight over the last six months has been working with 30 8th Standard girls who arrived at their school illiterate.  Through the support study classes these 30 girls are now reading and writing without difficulty and showing more motivation and interest in their studies generally.

Green Tara has a good reputation in the communities it works in and focuses successfully on continuity of rapport with both direct and indirect beneficiaries.

Major Achievements

• 80% of girls who have completed the project’s vocational training in the last six months are earning money through stitching and garment making activities. One of the girls who have graduated during the reporting period id now running her own business.
• The teams have made progress in reaching out to the Muslim community in the area. Before the team needed to encourage the women from the community to attend by going door to door. Now the women are taking the initiative in approaching the project and joining activities.  
• Seven girls refused early marriage during the reporting period. This is very unusual in the community where young girls have little say in their future.  Early marriage results in girls dropping out of school, leaving them completely dependent. In each case the girls are pursuing higher education or professional qualifications. 
• One 16 year old girl convinced her parents to allow her to complete her training as a tailor.  They had already fixed a marriage for her but now they have agreed she can marry when she is 18.
• A girl who was a beneficiary of the project was supported to take file a police report against her brother who was sexually attacking her and her sisters at night. This demonstrates strong increase in confidence by the girls who would have been shamed into keeping quiet without help from the team.

Challenges

There has been a challenge in finding ways of ensuring the girls regularity at the study classes. This is caused by the mothers who often work and need the girls to stay at home and look after younger siblings or do housework. It was found that 75% of the fathers were unemployed. The project is now working actively with the mothers to get the fathers more involved in the day-to-day activities in the home.

There is also challenge ensuring that the girls have enough time for their extra tuition. One school now actively supports the team to run tuition classes for two hours before school. The results are clear that girls need this extra time. In June, 30 girls entered school, aged 13, and none of them could read or write.  With extra tuition and home visits the girls are now literate and as a result not only display more confidence but are far more motivated in their studies generally. One challenge with the extra tuition groups is finding staff who can teach mixed-ability groups. Staff training will be needed and also more continuity with the same teacher.