Project Inspire 2014 Finalists: Going to School – The Transformative Power of Going to School, in India
Shrutikantha Kandali from India along with her teammates: 33-year-old Nishi Arora, 30-year-old Satyam Vyas, and Ranjeet Kumar, 30 – was recently named as a finalist in the 2014 Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard Project Inspire competition, which works to empower women through entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
The project aims to bring about change by teaching entrepreneurial skills to children, using design-driven stories; empowering children while they’re still at school.
“Going to School” has been working with children from low-income backgrounds since the program started in 2012. In Bihar, more than half of girl students drop out by Grade 10, in part because parents do not perceive that girls are learning employable skills at school. The program teaches market-relevant skills, with the aim of keeping children at school. This Project ‘Skills@School for Girls’ is a natural extension of their work. The organization aims to work in 100 new government schools, directly impacting 15,000 children, more than half of which are girls.
Joblessness is one of the struggles women face across the globe. Entrepreneurship helps women take charge and make a difference – and in some cases, provides an opportunity to start an enterprise which creates jobs for many other women. Financial literacy leads to independence; it empowers women to take control of their lives. Strengthening and utilizing the economic potential of girls is a critical approach for economic development. It’s especially important to ensure girls have the education, skills and resources needed to be self-sufficient, and contribute as equal members of society.
hrutikantha Kandali, 23, from India, is a qualitative researcher and writer for non-profit organisation, Going to School. She joined Going to School in July, 2013. Coming from a background in sociology and print journalism, Going to School was the perfect platform for her to do research work, as well as create content for children.
Trade Monkey – Fair Trade for Thai Artisans
Alana Hitchcock along with her friends, 27-year-old Nicola Hill, from the UK, and Suwaphit Somjai, 30, from Thailand – was named as finalist in this year’s Project Inspire, a social innovation competition run by Singapore Committee for UN Women and MasterCard.
The project highlight of Trade Monkey is “Creating an amazing, passionate, volunteer-based team, and the work they do with their partner, Warm Heart Worldwide. Every day they meet people who are excited about the mission; to connect customers to trendy, quality handmade products while creating opportunities for stable incomes in developing communities. This enthusiasm fuels the efforts”.
Alana shares her about the inspiration behind the project as – “I was fortunate to meet a special person working on AIDS relief in Africa when I was a teenager. He introduced me to the social, gender, and economic complexities that exacerbate and sustain the AIDS epidemic, and particularly its impact on women. Since then, I’ve been interested in how education, empowerment, and opportunity for women can change the course of health, societal, and economic issues.”
The greatest struggle women in Thailand face today are equality and economic opportunity issues. They are vulnerable to trafficking, forced marriage, exploitation, and domestic violence. These issues can never be resolved until women have non-exploitative economic opportunities, and the law and culture evolves to treat women equally, and enforce their rights. Entrepreneurship and financial literacy are good ways to empower women. Without financial literacy, women don’t know how to save for the future. Entrepreneurship provides opportunities women wouldn’t otherwise have; to control their livelihoods, access their talent and potential, and provide stability in their incomes.
Alana Hitchcock is 29 years old and she co-founded Trade Monkey organization. The organization offers stable income to disadvantaged artisans in Thailand, while providing socially responsible goods to consumers around the world.
Watch the Going to School video entry here- Project inspire Going to School
Watch the Trade Monkey video entry here- Project inspire Trade Monkey
