Over the past 25 years, the PRAJNA Foundation has been creating pathways for women and girls to escape the cycle of poverty through education and vocational training. While we support all slum children, educating and empowering girls, has a powerful generational impact. This year, we hope to send 1,000 girls from Delhi's slums to school, supporting their long-term success by providing school supplies, remedial tuition, digital literacy, nutrition & health supplements, and self-defense training.
There are an estimated 21,600 girls living in Delhi's slums who have no access to education. While all children in these communities face enormous barriers to escaping the cycle of poverty, girls are especially vulnerable. Without a basic education, financial independence is nearly impossible for women in India. Due to the dowry system and lack of opportunity, families often marry their girls off at a young age. This places them at risk of teenage pregnancy, trafficking and sexual abuse.
Aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, the Foundation supports families to enroll their girls in schools and preschools, and after-school programs help ensure their success by providing tutors, college mentors, remedial tuition, and a safe, accessible environment for learning. Technology is central to our programming, and our centers are equipped with high 100 mbps internet connectivity, educational software, video conferencing facilities, and film technology.
An investment in a girl from Delhi's slums, is an investment in all of India. Educating a girl allows her to escape premature marriage and motherhood. She will be more likely to support and empower all her children, and her daughters will also escape the cycle of early marriage and pregnancy that traps generations in abject poverty. Although this project aims to send 1000 girls to school, this "girl effect" will spread education and opportunity exponentially.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
