Womens Vocational Training
A New Center for Girls with Interrupted Lives.
The Project
The young girls of India account for the majority of high school dropouts. With too much work to do at home, this pressures young girls to suspend, or end their education permanently. Dropouts never realize their true potential, and can become socially isolated. In youth, these girls should be brimming with hope and pride, yet find themselves discouraged and defeated. The Mahila Training Markaz (MTM) is an answer to their troubles, providing girls with a community to learn, grow, and learn trades--giving meaning to their lives. In Aligarh, India, Muslims make up the majority of the population. Conservative Muslim ideologies are generally regressive, rather than progressive, when it comes to female education and their roles in society. Girls are expected to remain at home to complete the daily chores.
“Learning is the beginning of wealth .Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.”
—Jim Rohn, Author
“The situation is worse for girls. According to government statistics, the dropout rate among adolescent girls is as high as 64 percent. A significant number of these are girls from Dalit, tribal, and Muslim communities, who leave school without completing grade VIII, usually when nearing puberty. They are particularly vulnerable to child marriage. Their largely wage earning parents worry about leaving a teenage girl alone at home, and prefer to marry them early, fearing that unmarried teenage girls face greater risks of sexual abuse. ”
— Human Rights Watch
