A celebration of incredible girls everywhere leading up to the International Day of the Girl
Three weeks ago I met Pinki in rural India at a school that CARE has been running with local partners since 1999. The accelerated program [called Udaan] gets girls with no previous schooling up to speed on first through fifth grade in just 11 months. It then helps the girls’ transition back into formal government schools. Pinki, now 26 years old, was a student in the first class of girls, and Pinki is my hero. Here’s why:
1) Pinki is smart: Even though she never went to school until she was 13, Pinki now has a college degree, and is the most educated person in her community.
2) Pinki is brave: Pinki’s best friend had an arranged marriage when she was 14. When Pinki’s parents tried to marry her at the same time, Pinki said no. Since she had an education, she convinced her parents to let her keep studying.
3) Pinki is a leader: As the most educated person in her village, Pinki now contributes to the decision-making in her community, even though as a young woman, she would normally never be allowed a seat at the table.
4) Pinki is a role model: When Pinki learned how to ride a bike at school, she came home and taught the other girls in the village to ride bikes so they could be more independent and have an easier time with their chores.
5) Pinki gives back: Now that she has a college degree, Pinki is studying to get her teaching certificate so she can teach in her village, which has no school. Pinki has plans to make sure every girl in her village can go to school.
Pinki is an amazing person on her own merits, and being able to go to school changed her life. It helped her build the confidence, knowledge, and skills that allow her to transform her own life and the lives of those around her. She says “I, who never went to school before, covered grades 1 to 5 in one year! If it wasn’t for Udaan I would have been uneducated and married off at a young age. I wouldn’t have had much of a life.”
There are 32 million girls out of school in the world, who face many of the same problems that Pinki had. Let’s make sure that all girls can go to school, to help them become heroes.