Training Space for 600 Poor Girls in Mumbai

Dear Friends,

Poonam’s family is from a village in Jharkhand, one of the most backward states within which also her community's official status of being a backward community. It was her elder sister Sushma who first joined Vacha’s programme of Girls’ Empowerment. Their father is a cook’s assistant in an informal catering service. They are very poor and live in a 8 x 10 ft. room near a filthy creek in an ‘illegal’ part of a slum. Their homes can be demolished any time by government authorities. Despite this, both sisters have made amazing achievements. At Vacha, we are happy that we had been able to support them at crucial stage in their life. Sushma’s story has been documented before as to how she managed to stop an arranged marriage for herself at 15. Since then she joined her school again and passed 10^th and 12^th year public exams. Because she had learnt computer use and workable English in Vacha’s programme she could get part time job in a mall and finance her college education. Now she has joined an event management company.

Poonam was not allowed to study law by her father as that was not seen as a women’s profession. She joined an under graduate college and hopes to get a law degree after her B.A. She has indeed come a long way

Poonam had joined National Cadet Corps (NCC), a tough but non military program, from the first year in college. She was so good she was selected to train for March Past at the City level. Her excellent performance got her selected to State level and ultimately to the National level. She was a part of groups of girls that marched Flag Past at the most prestigious Republic Day event in Delhi this year. The event always is attended by the President and Prime Minister of India, a foreign head of State and many Indian and foreign diginitaries and watched by hundreds in the audience and by countless people on TV.  Her family that had wanted to marry off Sushma at 15 and denied permission to Poonam to study law was so impressed by her achievements that they had allowed her to stay in different camps in different places to train despite their very conservative mind set earlier. Letting a girl stay out with strangers would have been unimaginable otherwise. The entire slum community is also very proud of her. Poonam stayed away for weeks at a time. Her college gave permission for her absence and she studied the syllabus by herself and cleared her Second Year B.A, exams. Currently her education is supported by a fellowship arranged by Vacha.

We feel very happy that our timely educational interventions, inculcation of skills, leadership training and moral support impacts individual girls, their families and the community.