“I believe I can do anything!”
Kavita loved studying and was excited to be enrolled in school again after dropping out during the pandemic at age 13. When she started missing class again because she didn’t have reliable transportation, her mentors at Sahas Foundation stepped in to help.
My school is quite far away from the village, and there is no public transport. I had to miss school because my grandfather’s old bicycle broke down every couple of days. It made me sad, and I didn’t know what to do.
One day, I mentioned the challenge to my mentor, Sarla. She promised me she would help me with transport. First, I started going to school by rickshaw, but even then the driver wasn’t reliable. I reached out to my mentors for help again, and they got me a new bicycle!
She’s the First partners with grassroots organizations in the Global South, like Sahas Foundation in rural India, to give girls space to dream—which often means breaking down barriers to education for girls.
Sometimes the solutions are simple, but the impact is always big.
Before joining the She’s the First Partner Coalition, the Sahas Foundation was still working on the Sahasi Girls' program by conducting research in the village. Co-founders (and sisters!) Mona and Purvi Yadav are experts in other areas of leadership but had yet not been trained in feminist mentorship or girl-centered design. After attending the 2023 She’s the First Partner Conference, they started implementing their learnings in the Sahasi Girls mentorship program.
"Feminist mentorship is something that has been an important learning for all of us. Because even though Mona and I are both trained gender and sexuality facilitators, I think adding the component of feminist mentorship has really helped us make a safer space for girls. Because we are having sessions— group sessions, one-on-one sessions—we are able to listen to girls more," reflected Purvi.
Previously, no one had time or made an effort to ever listen to me. I am amazed and excited that there is not just one but four people who listen to me, support me, and motivate me to be a better person.
I want to pursue my education in Science, get a good job, and become a good human being just like my mentors so that I can also help girls like me.
I feel heard, encouraged, and confident. I feel happy. I believe I can do anything that I always wished to do.
“Previously, no one had time or made an effort to ever listen to me. I am amazed and excited that there is not just one but four people who listen to me, support me, and motivate me to be a better person.”
Every girl deserves to have mentors who listen to her.
Every girl deserves a safe commute to school.
Every girl deserves space to dream.
Our goal is to raise $70,500 this month to support girls in the Global South access mentorship and education. We’re almost there!
We’re about $6,500 away from our goal of ensuring girls feel heard, encouraged, and confident like Kavita.
Will you help?