“Project ABC for Women”

We are happy to be able to share with you our new project for Women – PROJECT ABC!

In the villages of Amwan and Nautapur we see so many young girls who have never had an opportunity to study and who only work in the house or the fields. A woman´s education has never been considered of any importance so parents never sent the girls to school. Also their help was needed to take care of younger brothers and sisters, do housework and bring in a little income too, since they are all families living below the poverty line.

We have a group of 22 girls who are mainly sisters of children attending our schools or neighbours who are interested in studying but realize they are now too old to go to school nor have the time to do so.

We believe it is essential for these young girls not to be illiterate since this will have its repercussion on their future families once married and with children. If they are capable of reading a letter or doing a basic maths operation, it will give them confidence in themselves as well as a more important position in their new homes when they get married, besides being useful in the family with different administrative matters.

By means of an Adult Education Programme imparted by Mala Devi, our social worker, these girls will learn to read and write as well as do basic mathematics sufficient to cope with their daily life. The classes are given in a completely different way from those of our children, using objects or figures they are familiar with every day in their homes. In only one month they have already learned all the numbers from 1 to 100, the most important letters in the Hindu ABC and to form words with them. The course will last for 4 months.

Once completed there will be a second part with other more practical activities which should be useful to them in their everyday life, e.g. what to do in a post office or in the council offices, how to fill in a form, where to go to get different matters solved, how to keep a home clean, how to cook in a healthy way, how to take charge of the domestic economy of their future families, how to take care of future babies, etc.

The girls themselves are thrilled to see they are capable of learning and besides it gives them the opportunity to “escape” for a while each day from their normal daily routine.

Through this project these young girls will acquire certain confidence in themselves and will be able to apply all they have learned to their own lives.