Provide scholarship for 8 bright girls in India

We have met some special greenlight children in India, many in fact, – but, we specifically have 8 special girls in mind when we are reflecting on this now.  These are the first of our scholarship recipients for greenlight for girls - and it is because of all of you that they have the opportunity to pursue their dreams to study at University!  Here is the latest report of these special girls...

G4g India Director, Dr Chandana Bhattacharya, and g4g Founder, Melissa Rancourt, met in Bangalore, India in January to meet our g4g Rickshaw team, to dream and plan about our next steps in India and to meet these special scholarship girls to talk about many things… especially Physics Class!  First, for all of you who have been watching the adventures of Leslie & Antoine, our awesome Rickshaw team, as they posted their stories on Facebook these past four weeks…. we have news.  They made it across the finish line!!  This amazing pair decided to take their holiday to venture from the North of India to the South India in an auto-rickshaw (decked out in beautiful “green”-ery decorations) and to try to make it to the finish line in less than 3 weeks.  This adventure was to also raise money for our special 8 girls in India to make it possible for this semester’s university tuition to be paid so these girls could continue their education…. and they accomplished this as well!  Go team!  Take a look on-line for more information about their adventures, their learnings – and then finally the special moment when they had the chance to meet the girls they were helping. 

January is a great time for dreaming, for planning for the future.  Chandana and Melissa did just this during their time together in India.  Look for news about our upcoming Science Festival with Parikrma in Bangalore, bringing g4g and our scholarship girls into the classroom of younger students, our work with children from the rural areas of Rajasthan and our plans to work in Calcutta.  Would you like to be a part of our work in India?  Just let us know! 

It’s amazing what can happen in only one year.  Chandana and Melissa had this incredible opportunity to experience a transformation in a few special children we know.  Just one year ago, they remember interviewing the potential greenlight for girls scholarship recipients.  These very shy girls spoke very quietly about their dreams and aspirations.  For some of them, they were just learning to speak English so the words were difficult to find – but we could see a special spark in their eyes.  Fast forward the clock to one year later and we almost didn’t recognise them!  Where was the shyness, the hesitation to speak in English?  Almost completely gone!  Our g4g scholarship winners were bubbling with enthusiasm and spoke to us non-stop about their studies, what it was like to be in university, being in class with other young women and men, and tackling these STEM subjects head-on.  We encouraged lots of conversation about the challenges with the coursework and plans (and uncertainty) for the future.  One of our conversations centered around physics class (so, you see, this is just like conversations we have all over the world!).  One of the girls spoke about how she didn’t quite like Physics… and another immediately said, “then, you haven’t found the fun yet!”   And with that, she reached in her backpack and pulled out everyday objects that people were throwing away – some string, a paper cup, an unused balloon and so on – and she immediately demonstrated Newton’s and Boyle’s Laws with the items in hand.  She made the theory come alive and she made it very practical.  This was most definitely a greenlight girl. 

As with every opportunity we have in our work with greenlight for girls, we were awestruck, inspired and full of energy for more great ideas ahead.

Thank you for your incredible support!!!

“We love to study!”, says our greenlight girls scholarship recipients when we see them.  In the midst of their studies, we arranged a very special visit on 5^th October – a trip to see behind-the-scenes at the Bosch manufacturing plant in Bangalore.  Our scholarship girls were provided a special tour of the plant by Bosch leadership.  The girls were in absolute awe of the opportunity.   Dr. Chandana Bhattacharya, who is the project director for g4g global scholarships, received a very special note from the girls – not only showing their appreciation but also demonstrating their amazing progress in learning English within a few short months. 

“Chandana Madam gave us a wonderful opportunity to visit a beautiful company BOSCH, so that I am very thank full to Chandana madam.  When madam told us that the BOSCH visit is on 05.10.2013 Saturday, I was very excited and very eager to see the BOSCH because I never visited such a big industry. When we reached the BOSCH company Mr. Hanumantha Rao welcomed us and then we started our journey of BOSCH, He first told us about the history of Robert BOSCH who is the founder of BOSCH, then sir showed us about the BOSCH company’s First products, and then we went to other branch’s and there we saw the manufacturing of machines that used in tractors, Engines etc., Mr. Hanumanth Rao explained very nicely about all branches, And one unique thing that we found in BOSCH is cleanliness each branch is like a ICU, it is very clean. The BOSCH is giving separate attention for the healthcare of its employees. It is very important thing that we observed in the BOSCH. Totally visiting of BOSCH was very good experience for us; it is really a unique company. Once again I am thankful to chandana madam.”

Our scholarship programme continues now to our greenlight girls in the Parikrma Foundation.  Two special girls, one studying her Bachelors of Engineering in BioTechnology and another in Junior College for science, are about to embark on their first year of studies.  Dr. Bhattacharya had the opportunity to visit the Parikrma schools on invitation by Ms. Shukla Bose, the Founder of Parikrma, for the Diwali celebrations over the past weeks.

In addition, greenlight for girls is now expanding our work to other regions of India.  In more rural areas, such as Rajasthan, the challenge is to find girls ready for higher education.  Often the girls stop their schooling as young as 8^th grade which is already an improvement from recent years in which they stopped at 5^th grade.  We are working with one special group of educators who have 33 girls in their 10^th grade class (the same class had 2 girls a decade ago).  We hope to inspire future role models to continue their education and show the way for future generations.

Global giving has launched its Year-end challange! We have to raise $3000 from 30 different donors and we can win another $3000!!! Help us achieve this goal by sharing our project with your friends and family and those who have not yet donated. 

Until next time, 

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we leave you with a video!

Links:

• A video of the girls!