Churning out change from chain of challenges
A group of 11 girls, striving to make a difference in Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj, share their experiences and achievements during an interaction at HT office.
LUCKNOW: Young, confident and committed, they are out to make a difference in the lives of others with the hope that their steps will become giant strides in the future.
Working to discourage child marriage, getting girls admitted to school, battling gender discrimination and even developing sports field in village, this group of 11 adolescent girls has been striving to bring about social change in Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
They shared their experiences and achievements during an interaction at the Hindustan Times office on Children’s Day on Monday, along with representatives from Plan India, a non- profit organisation engaged in protection of child rights and advancing equality for girls. The girls, who are all high school or college students, spoke of the child rights issues in their areas, and how they have been working to effect change, under the guidance of Plan India.
The girls mentioned instances of child marriage, child trafficking, cybercrime, child labour and more. They also opened up about the challenges they faced in their quest to reform their communities.
For instance, Rupali Mishra, a student of class 10 and resident of Siddharthnagar, said that after joining hands with Plan India, she developed a sense of confidence in her ideas and advocacy.
“We used to be afraid to put our point across, but now the fear is no longer there,” she said. She recalled an instance where she spoke to the parents of a 15-year-old who was about to be married off. She explained to them that a child loses the opportunity to mentally and physically grow, if married off at such a young age.
Rohini Rauniyar from Maharajganj, who is in her final year of schooling, felt child marriage is a serious crime, and is intrinsically connected to a lack of education.
“The girl child is only a burden so long as they are not selfreliant. And getting an education will help them become selfsufficient,” she said.
The girls in the districts hold monthly meetings with representatives from Plan India. Alongside their studies, they conduct awareness discussions, street plays, and have personal conversations with families, to incite consciousness regarding these issues within the community, said Janki Maddheshiya from Maharajganj.
The girls also said dealing with parents and guardians had been their toughest challenge when spreading awareness, largely due to the fact that many are uneducated.
Shalinee Tiwari and Roshani Khatun, both class 12 students from Siddharthnagar, were responsible for setting up a sports field in their village.
“Young girls never went out to play. They either cooked at home or played with the toddlers in the house. We requested the authorities for a play field, which has now been made,”said Khatun. Arya Kanaujia from Maharajganj has been responsible for getting three young girls from her village admitted to a free school, where she, too, had studied. Preeti Pandey from Siddharthnagar
has been providing free tuition to children in her area. K Jaiswal, resident of Maharajganj, spoke in detail about cross-border trafficking in her village, and how they have created teams to go in the field and spread awareness regarding the same.
Laxmi Paswan, class 10 student, spoke about her own experience with cyber-harassment and stalking in her village where she called the women’s helpline at 1090 for help, and now can educate other girls from her area on how to seek assistance in similar situations.
Jyoti Pal and Shivani Mishra spoke about the striking dropout rates in their villages in Siddharthnagar, and how they have been able to motivate a few students to rejoin school.
Prasoon Shukla, district officer for Plan India at Siddharthnagar, said that he has noticed a visible change in the confidence levels of the girls with the passage of time.
“People in their localities too have started to take them seriously,” he said.