Brie
enabled 75 girls from a slum in India to attend an empowerment course!
Brie raised $1,339!
This paid for:
Facilitator training for Renu and her co-trainer to teach 75 girls
Rental of a venue for the course duration of 15 weeks
Renu's salary and the salary of her co-trainer for 15 weeks
Brie's motivation
Recently I have been on my own journey to live a more empowered and fulfilling life.
I am really excited to be able to fundraise and enable Renu to run this program to assist in educating 75 young women - giving them tools to develop great self-esteem and life skills that will allow them to choose their own path in life. To become empowered, strong and vibrant young woman.
Brie's Feedback
Renu's course participants made Brie this cushion cover to say thank you
"The group was happy to see Renu and she has become part of their community. The sessions were very interactive and it was wonderful to see that the women were opening up and keen to share their experience and outlook on the topics. A couple of girls were interested to further their studies and finish secondary education.
It was great to see that many of the women had taken the initiative to tell their families to neither give nor accept dowry. These women have so much to tell, but had no one to listen to until now. The women were in fact asking if we could visit more often and conduct more classes as they feel a growing need to increase their knowledge."
- Girls Empowerment co-ordinator, India
Renu's story
Renu
In the slums in Dehradun, Northern India, girls’ education is seen as less important than boys’, and they are often pulled out of school at a very young age. Girls are forced to marry as young as 12 years old and their only perceived employment options is to become domestic workers in someone else’s home.
India also has the highest suicide rate in the world for young people between the ages of 15 and 29. Despite this, mental health is not treated or recognised as a problem and young girls are not encouraged to discuss their concerns with others.
Renu, a 24 year old qualified teacher who was brought up in a slum in Northern India, is determined to educate girls who have been pulled out of school at a young age. Renu wants to empower these girls to deal with their emotions, speak out when they are being treated unfairly, and become resilient to the everyday stresses they face in their environment.
A youth resilience course, built on materials from India, New Zealand and Australia, has been developed and successfully piloted in a government school near Renu’s community. Young girls who attended the course reported much higher levels of self-esteem as well as better attendance and participation in class. They felt inspired to continue with their education as well as address problems in their home lives.
The course also works with parents of the participants to ensure the newly self-assured girls will be encouraged to thrive at home as well as in the classroom. Parents of participants embraced the changes in the household as they gained an understanding of the importance of their daughters’ education and emancipation. One mother described how her daughter, whose self-respect had improved significantly, requested to have her early marriage postponed until she could complete a Bachelor of Education. The mother agreed.
Renu ran this empowerment programme for 12-15 year old girls who live in the slums and have been pulled out of school early to work or get married. With $1,339 Renu implemented the 15-week course, reaching 75 young girls, and empower them to build their own sustainable and fulfilling futures.