I
strive to become better person everyday because of Sahasi Girls Program’
‘I
get courage from Sarla ji. Whenever I am scared of anything in my life, I
immediately seek her. She always comforts me and says don’t be scared and keep
doing what you do best.’
There
are number of challenges that a young girl in a rural setting faces, which
hinders their education, growth, dreams and aspirations. It’s not
unidirectional issue but with multifaceted problem encompassing deep rooted
patriarchal and gendered norms, poverty, lack of access to basic amenities like
electricity, educational institutes and so on. Due to this, the girls who are
power house of strength, talent and never giving up attitude tends to fade away
in the cycle of early marriage, pregnancy and household chores be in parent
house or in-laws. Many a times, the girls don’t even know that there is
possibility of life beyond what is around them, or the kind of life that women
around them lead. That’s where the role models come in.
With
Sahasi Girls program, we are consistently trying to build a space where the
girls can feel safe, assured and experience joy of living, getting education,
being heard, have voice and dreams to look forward to. To explore more, we
organized a session on ‘My role model’ with the girls in Khushipura village. We
are grateful to Pamoja girls for this incredible session design which we
further contextualized to rural settings.
The
session began with an online mentorship call with Mohani, who is a student of
Hyderabad University. Originally from a small village near Badmer, Rajasthan,
she also experienced lot of challenges getting early and school education, but
with her consistent hard work, support from her father and teachers, she was
able to qualify entrance exam and now she is studying an integrated MA course
in history. She shared her journey of education, initial hardships like school
being far away, no roads, her classmates being forced to drop out and so on.
The challenges were similar to what the girls in Khushipura village are facing
– the girls could relate to her in so many ways. She motivated them to continue
studying, working on their aspirations and seeking support from Sahas.
One
of the girls asked her, ‘Didi, You got support from your father. What should I
do? I want to become a doctor but my family doesn’t support me. Can you guide
me?’
In
her usual simple way Mohani appreciated her for having this wonderful dream.
She said that, ‘You need to keep studying hard. Engage with your parents, with
your studies prove them that you are capable of studying further. Keep
insisting, never give up. And you have Sahas team, they will always support you
in your dreams. They can also speak to your parents and help you achieve your
dreams.’ This was an importance suggestion for girls because they do have a
support system but at the same time, they also have this important
responsibility of building dialogue with the parents and ask for what basically
is their right.
The
sheer joy of listening to a young college student sitting in a distant corner
of India, participating for the first time in an online call was evident on the
faces of Sahasi Girls. They were in awe of Mohani! This also reminded me of
everything practically going online with education, employment and engagement
with people, however the girls here and in many parts of the country remained
excluded from the digital India. This was our first attempt to connect them
digitally to important resources which would support them further in their
growth and dreams.
Post
the online meet up, Sahasi girls sat in their respective group, each girl was
given four questions. Some of the answers for those questions were –
If
you have a big decision to make and are bit nervous or unsure of what to do.
Who do you ask for valuable input?
‘Teachers’
‘Teachers
and parents’
‘I
call Purvi Didi whenever I am experiencing dilemmas. She always gives me right
suggestions’'
Who
makes you brave?
‘Teachers’
‘Sahasi
girls program makes me brave’
‘Purvi,
Mona and Sarla ji’
Who
makes you want to be a better person?
‘Sahasi
girls program inspires me to become a better person’
‘I
want to become better person because of Mona and Purvi Didi’
Who
do you want to be like when you are older?
‘I
want to be a doctor when I grow up ’
‘I
want to be just as courageous as Sahasi girls when I grow up’
‘I
want to become a teacher just like the teachers in our school because when we
go there to study, they always motivate us, tell us to study hard and become something
in life.’
‘I
want to become a good human being like you’
‘I
wish to become an accountant in future. What do I have to do to become one?’
‘I
want to become like Mona Didi and Purvi Didi’
Listening
to girls, saying that Sahasi Girls program makes them brave and also inspires
them to become better person was rewarding beyond words. Working on the issues
of gender, and violence is quite challenging and many times a threatening
experience especially in the village but all our efforts look worthwhile when
the girls feels comforted, motivated, heard and cherished by Sahas Team.
What
surprised us was the role plays designed and acted by the 4 groups. Each group
was given a real life situation where a girl experiences a challenge and then
she goes and seeks support from any person. They had to show who this person
is, what advice/suggestion will they give and whether they will be able to
resolve the challenge.
The
first group was given a situation where the girls are to participate in a event
organized for them in the village. The venue has changed, so when the girl is
going for the event – the women are taunting them, even a shopkeeper says bad
things. What would the girl do? They depicted the situation exactly like how it
has played out in the Khusipura village most of the times. The actor playing
the role of Sahasi Girl went to Virendra Singh (team member and mentor) and
shared the challenge. The girl playing the role of Virendra Singh said, ‘What
the women and village people said to you is not okay. They shouldn’t be saying
such things to you or any other girls. But you make choice for yourself. If you
think going to these sessions will be helpful, and if you are learning things
that can be helpful then ignore the villagers. They will comment on anything
that is uncanny or something they don’t understand. It’s their problem. You
focus on yourself and leave that space immediately.’
In
the second situation, a girl wants to go to college after completing her 12th
boards but her parents are refusing to enroll her. Here the group presented the
fellow Sahasi girl as the role model. She said, ‘Arrey you are a Sahasi
Girl. How did you forget that? Don’t worry, talk to your parents once again. I
will help you in your studies. Remember what didi said, we shouldn’t give up on
ourselves and education – we need to try our best so that we can study. I am a
Sahasi Girl too – I will help you in every possible way. Don’t fret.’
In
the third situation, one of the girl wants to attend the program organized for
girls but her mother refuses to let her go. The girl who went to mobilize goes
and asks for support to the role model. The girl played the role of Mona Yadav
as role model said, ‘Did you ask why her mother is refusing to let her go? I
know there is lot of people who doesn’t want their girls to go out of home and
come for workshops. People spread rumors like we are teaching something wrong
but we are talking about rights of girls, education for them. They are scared
that if girls learn all of this they will work on their life! Don’t worry we
will go together and speak to her mother. I really appreciate you for
mobilizing the girls.’
In
the last role play, there is a girl who wants to study but her parents stopped
her from going to the school. Her friend, fellow Sahasi girl seeks Sarla ji
support. Sarla ji goes to her home and engages with mother, ‘Let her come to
the program and learn things. She should be going to the school.’ The
mother says that they don’t have money and who will do household chores if she
leaves home. The actor playing Sarla ji counters by saying that they don’t have
to worry about money, it is important for girls to go to the school so that
they lead good life and become something in their lives. After a lot of back
and forth, mother agrees by saying that if the girl finishes the household
chores then she can go to the program as well as school. To my surprise the
girl playing the role model insisted that since she will be going to school she
will need time to study as well so she can do half of work and half to be done
by other members in the family. The mother finally agrees to Sarla ji and sends
her daughter to the school.
There
were many beautiful and encouraging aspects of this entire activity. The girls
who hardly used to speak when we started engaging with them are now brimming
with openness and confidence. They are sharing their challenges and seeking
support. They are blooming with creativity! Secondly these role plays are
direct feedback and one of the most terrific evaluation we as team have ever
received. The girls instead of traditionally saying automated answers as
parents and teachers are able to identify their role models, their words of
affirmation and guidance and they are speaking for their rights!
The
entire team of Sahas was overjoyed to witness the role plays and receive this
feedback with open heart. The girls were then invited to write letters to their
role models and if they wish they can share it with them directly. Mona Yadav received
two letters, Purvi Yadav received three letters and our Sahasi leader received a
letter from her group mate.
We
then had a samosa party with girls talking to each other, laughing and having a
good time.
The workshop
‘My role model’ was organized in the context of Teacher’s Day celebration which
continued with Sahasi Girls celebrating the day with their teacher in After
school Program.
