Empowering 200 Girl Leaders in India

Women all over the world are creating pathways to achieve gender equality, equitable education for all, and reverse climate change. Your support enables us to educate and empower young women in India to lead their families and communities out of the poverty pit and spur economic progress. 

One such young woman supported by YOU is 15 years old Muskan, who hails from a rural and remote village in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The state accounts for the highest school drop out girls and some of the worst gender indicators for girls and women in the country. But Muskan against all odds has emerged as a social champion for girls in her community!

A farmer’s daughter, Muskan’s parents have always dreamed of her higher education so that she can pave a path for her younger siblings, two brothers, and a sister. At the age of 13, passionate to lead change, she joined the Girl Icon Program which helped her to explore herself and identify her goals and aspirations. The training led her to explore more career opportunities and understand how to pave a path towards employment. Muskan loves numbers which led her to pursue a career in mathematics. 

Despite weak economic conditions, her parents have always supported her to pursue her studies. After passing her 10th board exams with flying colors, she dedicated her time to prepare for the entrance test for the Government Polytechnic exam. Despite the lack of facilities in her village, Muskan was determined to WIN and made dedicated efforts. Her determination led her to clear her exam and secure admission to one of the best Polytechnic Colleges in the State. For Muskan, this not only means higher education but also assures her that she will be able to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty for her family. 

Muskan is the FIRST GIRL ever in her village to secure admission to a Government Polytechnic College. YOU made this possible! She has been imparting life skill-based education to her peer group girls in her village for the last two years, Muskan has become an inspiration for them to pursue their dreams. Her selection has further motivated girls in her village to challenge their situations and continue to be educated despite deepening family poverty due to the pandemic. Muskan continues to create a pathway for girls in her village to continue their education and advocate for their rights. She is a role model for girls in her community and is working continuously to bring girls back to school by leading with her example. 

When girls are provided safe spaces, mentorship support, and life skills education they overcome many of the challenges faced by them. Educated girls tend to reinvest 90 percent of their income into their families. This means economic growth, reducing poverty and inequalities faced by girls and women. 

Your support enables adolescent girls from some of the most marginalized communities to use their voice, choice, and power to create a just and equitable world! When you donate it enables a girl to complete her secondary education, delay her age of marriage, have better access to health services and reduce violence. 

Links:

• Milaan Website

COVID-19 has changed the world around for each one of us. In India, adolescent girls and women in underserved communities have been most affected by the pandemic. The country recorded a two-fold increase in gender-based violence fuelled by mandatory stay-at-home rules, social distancing, economic uncertainties, and anxieties caused by the pandemic. Adolescent girls were the last and least to be fed and faced the frustration of economic losses and the brunt of the violence. We heard stories of distress, and pain from the communities we work in, but at the same time, we heard stories of resilience and hope from our Girl Icons rising above the challenges to fight in the frontlines in these unprecedented times of humanitarian crisis.  

One such story of hope is Girl Icon Jyoti who resides in a rural community of Uttar Pradesh. During the pandemic, Jyoti could not find sanitary pads for herself, Jyoti was not the only one. Schoolgirls in India are facing a massive shortage of sanitary napkins because schools - a critical part of the supply chain - are closed. This has left millions of teenagers across the country anxious. Most girls in the underserved communities, including Jyoti are dependent on the supply from their school because they can't afford to buy sanitary napkins. Jyoti however realized early on in the pandemic that girls and women in her community who were struggling for food would never be able to buy sanitary napkins. Using online research, Jyoti taught herself how to sew cloth pads at home and taught the same to the group of girls she has been leading and educating for two years. Collectively, Jyoti with five girls from her group taught every woman and girl throughout their village to cut, sew and make their own pads at home. In just 4 days, they covered the village population of 900 people. That’s not all Jyoti stitched hundred of masks for free and distributed to the elderly in her community. 

This truly shows the impact of creating a cadre of Grassroots girl leaders like Jyoti who are committed and passionate about their communities, they are a force for social transformation. With your support, Jyoti has been trained to lead, educate and empower adolescent girls and young women to overcome the barriers that restrict them to explore their potential. The girls in our program have shown some exceptional progress as compared to the national numbers; 40% of adolescent girls don’t complete their secondary education in India, at Milaan more than 95% of the girls have transitioned into secondary education. Even today in 2020, 1 in 4 girls in India is getting married before the legal age of 18, due to Milaan’s efforts with the girls we work with we have been able to bring that number to almost zero. 

In these difficult times we need you more than ever, please continue supporting our girls to ensure they complete their education despite the deepening poverty in their communities and continue to work at the grassroots to achieve gender equality.

Links:

• Milaan Website
• We got covered by an Australian magazine - Frankie