For A Better Future

One of the things that has been hardest for me moving to Pune has been giving up work.  I loved my job, and although it's not very British to blow one's own trumpet, I think I was pretty good at it.  It was certainly more of a vocation than merely a way to pay the bills.  And going from working full time in a beloved career in which I felt I made a difference in the lives of young people, to becoming occupied with self-centred activities such as brunch, shopping, Hindi lessons, yoga, cooking club, and blogging is a little hard to get used to.  I even have a maid now, so I can't really claim the 'job' of housewife (not that I was particularly good at that job anyway!)

But today was different.

Today, I think I caught a glimpse of a way that I may be able to utilize my skills, energy, and creativity to make a difference.

Today, I got to hang out with these fantastic young people and their friends.

A fellow expat Geography teacher, Sue, invited me to join her to go to a small village called Nimgaon Bhogi about 55km out of Pune.  She has been teaching English to girls aged 13-15 once a week as part of a grassroots NGO called Ashta No Kai (Japanese meaning "For a Better Future").  This organisation was founded by Armene Modi with the intention of empowering women in India.

Some shocking statistics from India in 2016 for you (click here for more details):

• 47% of girls get married before the legal age of 18
• 20% before their 15th year
• 35% of women are illiterate (compared to 18% for men)

Ashta No Kai empowers young women in two ways.  Firstly, they provide bicycles to enable girls in rural areas to continue to get to school into their teens when family pressures make this harder.  Secondly, they provide weekly Kishori Mandals, life-skills lessons covering sexuality, health, legal rights, and adolescent issues. The girls learn about social issues that impact them such as the negative effects of dowry and early marriages, and the importance of girls' education (not just for themselves, but for the whole community).

Click here to read more from Armene Modi.

So today I travelled for an hour and 20 minutes out of Pune to Nimgaon Bhogi, and I helped with the girls' English classes.  I got the impression that the acquisition of English (while useful) is less important than the opportunity these girls get to broaden their horizons, meet new people, and develop self-confidence.  

I loved it.

Sue was fantastic and showed the girls a strong, female role-model - disciplined and task oriented, but loving and fun as well.  The kids clearly loved the sessions.  They worked hard to practice the different word order in English sentences (something I have also found challenging in learning Hindi), but then they enjoyed time playing games and, believe it or not, doing Zumba dances (with added Bollywood flair from some of the girls).

I will be back to Nimgaon Bhogi and the girls.  

And for the first time in a while, I am enthused and hopeful for a better future (for the girls, and me!)