Holding a book for the first time!

“I never had time to think about education. We were so busy on the farm trying to earn a living,” said Leela Rawat from a village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan.

Leela has never been to school. With her mother’s deteriorating health, the responsibility of the farm had to be taken up by the sisters and their father. Pratham mobilizers visited her parents to talk about enrolling Leela for 10^th Grade through Second Chance program. While the mobilizers struggled to convince the parents to allow their daughter to study, Leela was going through a dilemma. She was nervous about studying, considering she has never held a book in her life. She was worried about the stress her parents will have to go through considering the society they live in.

Once she was enrolled in the program, she realized that she can resolve most of her issues with sheer courage. Leela speaks of her time in the class fondly. Her teachers helped her catch up with language and Math. She feels that there is a positive change in her speaking and writing skills. The foundation course prepared her for the main course effectively. She says that it is because of her teachers that she could move ahead in life but the teachers believe on each of their students and feel that it is the person who has the strength in her and we are mere facilitators.

People from my neighborhood would taunt me and my parents saying that I am old enough to get married and what is the point of studying at all. Any girl stepping out of the house on her own is looked down upon in her village. But Leela is changing this attitude by paying no heed to the comments.

When asked about her plans for the future, Leela beamed with excitement and said, “I want to do my bit for the society. I want to start off by working as an ‘ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) Sahyogini’ and then find my way from there. Passing 10^th Grade provided a significant boost to my confidence. I believe that I can dream big.”