Pinki studies in grade 9 at the school run by Pardada Pardadi. She loves going to school, as can be seen by her 98% attendance record.  Before coming to this school she attended a village school in Tauli, but did not learn too much there. She is determined to get a good education, and make a better life for herself. When she finishes school, Pinky wants to become a teacher of English or Hindi.

Her favourite subject is English, and she loves playing cricket in her spare time.

Thank you, Patricia, James, Prabha (x2), Cindy (x2), Alice and Brad, Erik, Mike and Suzanne (x2)  and Kandace (x2) for coming together to support Pinki’s tuition for an entire year.

Meenu studied in a village school, and dropped out after grade 9, because neither she nor her parents recognized the value of a formal education. However, gradually, Meenu realized that if she wanted a say in her destiny, she needed to become financially independent. She therefore, joined the vocational training course conducted by Pardada Pardadi at their school.

Meenu is learning tailoring, and has been assured of a job on completion of the six month training course. While her parents may not have allowed her to take up a job which would have involved coming in contact with men, they are happy that their daughter will be working in a workshop with other women.

Thank you, Ryan, for ensuring that Meena gets trained in tailoring. Economic empowerment will ensure that she she has greater decision making power then women in her community normally enjoy.

She is very intelligent and has good leadership skills. Her favourite subjects are math and English. All the teachers like her, because she is a very promising student. Manchal is very ambitious, and wants to succeed professionally. However, like other girls from rural backgrounds, she suffers from the disadvantage of not being able to converse fluently in English.

Your donations, Chelsea, Carol (x2), Kristy and Andre (x8), will ensure that Manchal gets one computer skills class and one spoken English class every week for an entire year. Both these are essential skills for a girl who wants to go in for higher education and a professional career. Learning these skills will also give Manchal the much needed confidence to succeed.

Thank you for providing essential skills to Manchal.

Aarti is a serious girl, who likes English very much. Her favaurate game is Kho-kho. Arti Participates in school’s cultural programs. She wants to become a doctor, and serve poor people.

Aarti is the first girl in her family to be educated. Though two of her sisters are not much older than her, they are both already married. Aarti’s younger sister is being educated in a government school in Arti’s village because she is two young to travel to Pardada Pardadi everyday.

Once she attained puberty, Aarti’s parents wanted to pull her out of school because they did not think it was safe for a young woman to travel alone from Malakpur to Anoopshahar. Your donation of a bicycle, Julia, could not have been more timely. Now, Aarti can cycle to school safely, and this also enables her to save time on her daily commute.

Thank you, Julia, for supporting Aarti.

Krishna studies in grade 9 in the free school run by Pardada Pardadi. She loves music, both listening to it and learning it.  Although she loves her music class, her favorite thing about school is learning vocational skills.  She’s currently learning machine sewing and she also loves machine embroidery.

Though Krishna has only a few more years of school left, she is not sure of what she wants to do after graduating from school. All she knows is that she wants to have a career which will ensure that she is economically independent. She is also determined to demand that her voice is heard in all decisions that pertain to her.

Thank you, Susan for supporting Krishna’s tuition for an entire year.

Her father is literate and her mother is illiterate, but they both support her dream of becoming a doctor. Her favorite color is pink, and her favorite food is rice and lentils.

She gets to practice her skills on the computer every week, and attends spoken English classes. This will go a long way in giving her the tools that would help her succeed in life.

Thank you, James, for ensuring that Soni gets an entire year of spoken English and computer education classes. This will help her gain much needed confidence to succeed professionally.

Savita likes to play sports at school, especially baseball.  Her favorite class is Maths and she likes learning vocational work also.  After she finishes school Savita would like to join to be a doctor

Thank you, Paris and Tesu (x11) for coming together to provide an entire year of computer training and spoken English classes to Savita. This will give her the much needed confidence to seek a job outside the village where she has grown up.

Because of your generosity, Savita is on the road to economic and social independence.

Anju’s favourite subject is English and she also doing hand embroidery work. She likes playing kho-kho, singing and dancing.  She dreams of becoming a teacher in Pardada Pardadi school.

Thank you, Jason, for donating two sets of school uniforms, a pair of shoes and winter clothes to Anju.

Bhavna is 16 years old from the village of Khalour, and she is currently in class 9B. Her father, Shri Kashav, is a driver, and her mother, Brajesh, is a housewife. She has two sisters and one brother whom all live in a two room house; Bhana§s family has a toilet and a hand pump for water, but they have no electricity.

A sweet and smart girl, Bhavna lives in Khalour with her grandparents; her parents and sibling all live in the town called Kajo, where her father is a driver. Bhavna can often be found causing mischief in her village with her good friend Ritu. Also, Bhavna likes to play badminton and read stories especially in the library with Babli, the librarian. When volunteers come from different countries, Bhavna is always seen practicing her English and wanting to know about life there. In the future, Bhavna wants to be an actress in the movies someday!

Thank you, Jason for donating two sets of school uniforms, winter clothes and shoes to Bhavna. Every day that Bhavna comes to school is another day that promises her success in life.

Khushboo is 16 years old and lives in the village of Fatehpur. She is currently in grade 9 at the free school for girls run by Pardada Pardadi in rural Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Mahesh, is a farmer, and her mother, Bhagwan, is a housewife; Khushboo’s father and mother both have 10^th class education, so understand and support Khushboo’s desire to get an education. Her family, including two brothers and two sisters, all live in a two room house that has a toilet and a hand pump for water but no electricity. Her main duty in the household is to help her mother with the cleaning and cooking. Lastly, her family has two buffalo which provides them milk and a source of labor.

Khushboo is a lively girl who lives to be the centre of attention. Singing is a passion of Khushboo’s, so she often accompanies the girls who sing at the assemblies and programs. Also, her favorite school subject is English; whenever there are new volunteers, one can always she her practicing her English with them. Khushboo is not a shy girl, but a bold and intelligent who wants to learn more and excel in life. When Khushboo finishes school, her goal is to become a home science teacher.

Thank you, Morgan, for donating a set of two school uniforms, shoes, socks and winter clothing to Khushboo. This will give her greater incentive to come to school.