SECOND CHANCES
In the desert of Rajasthan, is giving child brides a chance to finish school, graduate, pick and pursue a career
In a region where child marriage is still common and few girls make it to high school, an institute called Veerni (Hindi for woman of great bravery) is changing lives. The residential facility in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, houses 85 girls from nearby villages — including several child brides. It was set up in 1993 by a Swiss woman named Jacqueline de Chollet, now 80. In these arid, underprivileged villages, female literacy is still at a measly 52%, against a national average of 65%, but now girls are graduating here and even pursuing careers, with help from the institute.
“Many former students are now teachers. One has set up a yoga centre,” says Mahendra Sharma, director of
Veerni Institute.
It was Sharma who did the rounds, door to door, convincing parents that their daughters would have a better life if they moved to the facility, focused on school and college and got an education.
Radha, one of the child brides, says she wants to become an IPS officer “so that I can stop child marriages from occurring and ensure that girls study further”.
Suman, 16, who is now in Class 11, wants to be a teacher or police officer.
“I put my girl in this institute because their management, their security and safety, their choice of school to enrol the girls in, were really good,” says her father, Ranu Singh.
“Suman has improved in her studies, and also in her confidence after meeting other girls from different villages and schools.” Now, in-laws of child brides are also seeking slots at the institute.
“One man asked if we could enrol his daughter-in-law and his daughter, who was also married as a child,” says Sharma. “Over the years, because the girls are studying further, the boys in the nearby villages have also become more motivated to finish their education.”
Life is disciplined and structured around the school day, at the singlestorey institute—which also has a computer lab, sewing room and a playground with see-saw and roundabout. Students from Classes 6 through 12 are housed in its dorms.
The day begins for the girls at 5 am. Each has an allotted time for a bath. They take turns to clean their dorm. Seniors help juniors with homework.
There’s a prayer session at 6.30 am, then breakfast and school. Upon their return, it’s lunch at 3 pm, then study time and after-school tutorial sessions. At 5 pm on weekdays they all slip into trousers and T-shirts to head out for an hour of play. They return for dinner, another study hour and sleep by 10 pm.
Weekends are lighter, with more time for recreation and rest, and an hour for TV.
There are no cellphones allowed, no make-up on school days. They can speak to their parents on Sundays on the matron’s phone. “Our aim,” says Sharma, “is to equip the girls with skills and see to it that they can get a job.”