The theme of this International Women’s day is #breakthebias and work towards a world free of stereotypes and discrimination.
One such initiative which has impacted the lives of thousand girls is called project ASMITA by Rotary Club of Bibwewadi. The integrated project focuses on many areas such as gynecological guidance, sexual abuse, mental health, physical strength and defense training, confidence building, and nutrition.
Even though the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into being in 2010, nearly 40% of adolescent girls in the age group of 15-18 years are not attending school while 30% of girls from poorest families have never set foot in a classroom, according to the report by Right to Education Forum and Centre for Budget Policy Studies with support of the World Bank and UNICEF.
Excerpts from an exclusive conversation with Dr. Prachi Pandya, President - Rotary Club of Bibwewadi Pune:
What is the project ASMITA about and who are the beneficiaries?
Project Asmita is a joint initiative of Rotary Club of Bibwewadi, Pune and GTPL Hathway Limited to empower 12,500 young girls and women through knowledge and skill building workshops and sessions, so that they can lead an independent life with dignity. Started in 2018, this CSR project is one of the biggest projects on empowerment of young girls by Rotary till date.
In which parts of Maharashtra has this project been carried out?
The project has spread across 25 Rotary Clubs in 4 states and multiple Rotary Districts. Asmita is being conducted successfully across 4 states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka & Goa) in 3 different languages (Marathi, Gujarati & Hindi).
What is the aim of this project?
Girls today are the women of tomorrow. Guiding these young champs in the right direction is a matter of imbibing them with the right values, manners, information and providing them the right resources.
Partnership of Rotary – GTPL Girl Empowerment Centers focuses on 6 broad areas:
What are some struggles that the volunteers had to face?
A. Mindset
It’s very important for girls to feel confident. Our society at large forces girls to be submissive and “adjusting” to their subpar social roles. Big challenge for volunteers was to make the girls believe that they can aim for the stars, and they have all the help available.
B. Hesitation
Sexual abuse, Menstrual Hygiene, social media bullying etc. are still considered a taboo subject to discuss openly. Volunteers have to create an environment of trust with help of their teachers and mentors to make girls believe that they can seek help and guidance on these topics without any shame or hesitation.
C. Superstitions
Unfortunately, we as a society still have many superstitions surrounding female menstrual cycles. Since project Asmita breaks these notions, volunteers sometimes face the challenge from few individuals. However, everything was resolved amicably with the help of logical arguments and consultation with experts wherever required.
What all has been done till date?
Around the world, 129 million girls are out of school and estimates show that due to the coronavirus pandemic, an additional 20 million girls may drop out. Barriers to girls’ education include poverty, child marriage and gender-based violence. In India, about 23 million girls drop out of school every year due to menstruation.
To address these challenges, Rotary is providing reading material (including tablets), sanitary napkins along with multivitamins so that the girls can access self-empowerment training even outside classrooms. So far, 250 Samsung A7 tablets, 4 lakh sanitary napkins, 12,500 help booklets, 2,500 bottles of multivitamin medicine and 1,250 bottles of pepper spray have been provided to the girls.
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