Grappling With the Odds
Aarti, a spunky 16 year old living in a quaint little village called Lohagal near Ajmer, belongs to the scheduled caste community. After her father’s death due to tuberculosis, Aarti’s mother Vimla became the sole breadwinner for the family. Making ends meet was tough and there were too many mouths to feed. That’s when, Aarti’s family decided to get her married – against her and her mother’s wishes.
Kavita (age 2)* and her parents belong to the village of Dediyapada in Gujarat. Both parents are labourers, and to make ends meet, they often migrate to different villages. Due to this, and the lack of basic facilities for the child’s health, Kavita’s heath started deteriorating. She started losing a lot of weight. The problem remained persistent and this made the parents come back to their village. They took her to a private practitioner, however she was not recovering. Feeling helpless, they showed her to a quack (a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have medical skill). Days went by, but Kavita did not show any good signs of recovery. She lost weight drastically and had severe acute malnourishment.
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When Vaishnavi lost her parents at the age of 12 to ill health, she and her brother were directionless and confused. They didn’t know who to go to and what to do. Luckily for them, their paternal aunt and uncle took them in.
But things didn’t get easier for them there. Their aunt’s family sustained themselves as agricultural labourers who earned just Rs.4000-6000 a month. As a family of four with two additional mouths to feed now, the family began moving from their village in Chittoor, AP to Bangalore and back in search of work. In order to make things easier, the family enrolled their two children, Vaishnavi and her brother in a gurukul in Chittoor. But in 6 months, the family was uprooted again and taken to Bangalore.READ MORE
23 year old Marthal is currently an accountant at a BPO in Chennai. Her small stature and pleasant smile hides a lot of what she has had to go through. While for many in her community of Vyasarpadi, the job of an accountant might be coveted, Marthal has bigger dreams.
The slums of Vyasarpadi have been infamous for crime and its decrepit status. For the longest time, children were an extension of the working class and girls who hit adolescence were bound to get married in order to “protect” them. In a community that still struggles with these issues and is at the brink of change, Marthal was a ray of hope.READ MORE
In Renigunta Mandal, tucked in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh are 4 quaint villages which are soon going to see transformation; thanks to one fierce girl – Vengavasi Ashwini, currently a student of nursing, is on a mission!
Ashwini has recently been selected by Ashoka Youth Venture as a change maker and here’s why. As a student of nursing, she is working to debunk myths regarding personal hygiene and adolescent health and strengthen the community in adolescent care.
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The idea of resorting to a life of giving and serving the community may have struck many but is often brushed aside as a far-fetched idea. This however, wasn’t the case with Mrs. Samira Ahmed. Previously a teacher at Lady Havabai School in Pune, she felt that her knowledge could serve a greater purpose and soon she began her long and fruitful journey with Child Rights and You in December 2016.
Even though she had taught children before, her start at Pune public action group school was like treading unchartered waters. The first impediment when teaching young seventh graders was the low attendance rate of students in class. The ones who did show up would run away during the class. Before Mrs. Samira could find a viable solution she was transferred to a class of eighth graders. When questioned, Mrs. Samira explained that it was no fault of the children for they had faced negativity of all kinds in their early childhood. She further added that each one of these children were special and storehouses of talent. All they needed was to be believed and encouraged in.
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A 17-year old passionate and persistent Thimma Reddy is quickly emerging as a role model for children in Manvi, Raichur. Together with the other members from their Children’s Collective, he goes to the Panchayat, gets information from them, and passes it on to the others in the Collective.
When questioned by his mother on why he engages with the community and stakeholders rather than taking up a part time job and adding to the family income, he tells her how he likes helping the children in his community and wants to see them become successful in life. Thimma Reddy explains why he wants to do what he does, “We are taking our own rights, what is rightfully ours, not grabbing that of others”.
The air is studded with the imaginary lines of blaze, the blaze of change and continuity. Life changes and never stops to embrace every phase you live through, in excellence or failure. But when you stop and stare, at your complex mind, there still remains some childishness hidden and embedded. While your life is moving faster and denser each day, and while you’re busy chasing your dreams, take off and cherish the child hiding in you for a day.
We often take education for granted. However, for a lot of girls in India, education is a distant dream. For a host of different reasons, girls across the country are forced to drop out of school.
But when given the opportunity to pursue education, girls can bring about a cycle of positive change. Not only do they stay away from early marriages and child labour, they also go on to become strong and independent members of the society. As they grow, they make better choices for themselves. Choices that only helps them transform and secure their lives but also grow up to become empowered women capable of influencing their communities for the better.
Jagruti’s story is a live testimony to that.
“The path from dreams to reality does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get onto it and perseverance to follow it” -Kalpana Chawla
When Muthumanoranjini read about Kalpana Chawla as part of her English curriculum, she was in awe of the fact that a small town girl from her very own country was able to reach for the stars and get there too!
But she could still see some stark differences in her and Kalpana Chawla. For someone who is part of the Pallar (dalit/untouchable) community in Sattur, Tamil Nadu, she wasn’t sure if she’d be allowed to dream big.
Having been a part of children’s collective meetings during her school days in Anaikulam village in Tirunelveli district, where lived till she completed middle school, Ranjini was aware of her rights and opportunities and she felt that she could still achieve her dreams. Even when her family moved to the neighboring town of Sattur, this drove Ranjini.
An excellent student in school, she kept at her dream and worked hard, eventually topping her school. As the first one in her family to have the opportunity to go to college, she presented the idea of studying aeronautical engineering to her parents.
Unfortunately, her parents felt that it was a male-dominated profession and didn’t agree to send her for the course. When asked what she did then she says, “At first I cried. A lot. Then I realized that I need to make this happen.” She contacted the HREPC community organizer and caught the attention of the HREPC project holder, Bharathan.
Bharathan is a trusted leader within the people in the village. He spoke to the parents and convinced them, making them realize how this choice could potentially change the course of their daughter’s and their life. His project also arranged for counseling on higher education for Ranjini and her peers.
Today, Ranjini’s parents are her staunchest supporters and she’s pursuing her second year in aeronautical engineering, having secured first rank in her first year.
When asked what her future plans are, she replies without batting an eyelid; she’s going to do her post-graduation from Hindustan Aviation Academy in Bangalore and become an astronaut like Kalpana Chawla.
Ranjini has come a long way and is definitely aiming for the sky. And we have no doubt that she’s going to get there.
The line goes – “When you educate a man, you educate an individual and when you educate a woman, you educate an entire family” – and in fact, education is the only tool with which a girl or a woman can empower herself and eventually her family.
However, in a country like India, poverty often decides whether a girl can continue her education or not. Such is Sumi Godsora’s story as well.
These girls from Mumbai slums are breaking stereotypes and going against the existing social norms to rewrite their own stories despite their underprivileged backgrounds. Read on to know how CRY has managed to bring in change into the lives of these girls by encouraging them to pursue education.
Child Rights and You (CRY) is an Indian non-profit that believes in every child’s right to a childhood – to live, learn, grow and play. For nearly 4 decades, CRY and its 200 partner NGOs have worked with parents and communities across 23 states to ensure sustainable change in the live of over 2 million underprivileged children.
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