Support A Young Girls Leadership Academy in India

As a follow-up to introducing feminist storytelling as a powerful tool for self-expression, leadership, and social change in the SELF Academy 2025, the young girls continued their journey of using stories to challenge silence and reshape narratives.They reflected on how mainstream narratives often distort or erase girls’ lived realities and explored how their own voices can question and transform these dominant perspectives. Grounded in the pillars of Voice, Agency, and Intersectionality, participants strengthened their storytelling skills  learning the 5Ws and 1H, identifying bias, structuring narratives, and using respectful, inclusive language.The storytelling sessions were further developed into a social action project  and implemented during September–November in Jharkhand. It included:

• An online learning session for the girls on story and its structure, art of interviewing and establishing stories  and connecting  with systemic discrimination. 
• Community campaign where the girls engaged in story circles, poster making along with community meetings and street play where they shared stories about the importance of their choice, and to question why people fear this choice. Through storytelling, discussions, and creative expressions, the campaign tried to invite the community to reflect on what choice means for girls and what kind of future we want for our daughters.
• Storytelling as a tool of change where the girls wrote individual stories based on their learnings from the SELF academy and the online learning session on story writing. 

The stories shared by the young girls highlighted several interconnected themes emerging from their lived realities. A strong focus was on girls’ education, with many narratives describing girls struggling to continue school despite poverty, pressure to marry early, and heavy household responsibilities. Education was often portrayed not just as personal growth, but as a pathway to dignity, independence, and family support. Child and early marriage appeared repeatedly, with girls describing resistance to forced marriages and negotiations with parents and elders to gain time to complete their studies. These stories reflected both the persistence of harmful norms and the growing confidence of girls to speak up for their futures. Economic hardship was a central thread. Girls spoke about working as tutors, daily wage laborers, or caregivers while studying, contributing to household income and financing their own education. Their stories showed how financial pressure shapes girls’ life choices but also how resilience and determination help them navigate these challenges. Many narratives explored gender norms and social control, including restrictions on mobility, moral policing, and community gossip about girls who step outside traditional roles. These experiences revealed how girls’ reputations are closely monitored, often limiting their freedom. Stories also surfaced of the experiences of violence, health risks, and emotional stress, particularly in cases of early marriage, domestic abuse, and lack of access to healthcare.These accounts linked personal suffering with broader structural inequalities. At the same time, participants highlighted the role of supportive allies, especially mothers, sisters, and sometimes teachers, who encouraged girls to continue education and pursue their goals, often standing up to other family members. Finally, many stories reflected emerging leadership and collective action. Girls described wanting to guide other girls, raise awareness in their communities, and prevent others from facing similar struggles.

Overall,storytelling itself became an expression of leadership and social commitment.These stories expressed not just their problems but they were able to articulate their stories of resilience and emerge out of those troubles. All these stories reflected deep thinking and emotional reflection along with a good grasp of stories as a tool of change in the way we narrate them, looking at them as tools to challenge dominant narratives.