By the time she was 13, Dimple’s parents had planned to get her married. “Without education, I knew my life would be just like my mother’s,” she says. With Educate Girls’ support, Dimple can now pursue the bigger dreams she has for her future.
“I did not like staying at home as I had to do all household tasks. I always thought about school and how I could learn a lot there. When a community worker from EG came to talk to my parents, I was finally able to tell them that I wanted to return to school. Since EG talked to my parents, they are convinced that a girl should be educated. I am happy to be back in school.”
Dimple still faces challenges that her brothers do not, yet she is determined to continue her education. “There is a teacher at my school and I want to be a teacher like her when I am older,” says Dimple.
Punam was only four when her father contracted leprosy. That began a nightmare that found her begging, abused, held captive in a leper colony and offered up for marriage by the age of 14.
Her 10-year struggle for survival ended when Punam met a facilitator from Shakti, Aangan’s community-based programme building resilience in vulnerable girls. Shakti sessions helped build Punam’s spirit and confidence. Denied an education by her circumstances, Punam is now enrolled in school and attending tuition classes at the Netherlands Leprosy Relief Foundation. Punam plans to finish her education and support her parents.
