OUR COMMUNITY
Girls’s Education Program (GEP)
"Educate a man, and you educate an individual. Educate a woman and you educate a whole family."
90 million girls in India are illiterate
Regardless of the laws, policies and schemes available for the education of girls, one wonders why girls are not in schools? Several research studies show that poverty, child marriage, disinterest in schooling, distantly located schools and lack of safety in schools and on the way to schools are some of the leading reasons why girls, especially from marginalized communities, are out of school.
Social and cultural norms pose a lot of restrictions too, due to which girls are unable to enjoy freedom. Girls experience multiple forms of discrimination and violence in different contexts. They are forced into early marriage by their families as they are considered to be a big liability, and their safety issues, especially after puberty, is another big reason.
According to a recent report, India ranks first in terms of the number of child brides in the world, with around 27 percent girls being married off before their eighteenth birthday. Poor educational opportunities for girls, especially in rural areas, also increase the vulnerability of girls to be forced into child marriage.
In addition, a majority of girls are either engaged in agricultural activities or household chores, specifically being in-charge of sibling care. Hence, they don’t get the opportunity to attend school. The girls who manage to attend school are given free education only up to eighth grade, after which they are required to pay for their own books, uniforms and other educational supplies. Therefore there is an alarming dropout rate of girls after eighth grade.
One Life to Love’s Girl Education Program (GEP) focuses on improving the conditions by which girls, especially those in the marginalized communities can access quality education. Education is an important tool that enables women and girls to participate in decisions that affect their lives and in improving their social status. Through our program, the community and parents of girls are now beginning to understand the importance of educating girls.
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO HELP?
One Life to Love’s Girl Education Program (GEP) focuses on improving the conditions by which girls, especially those in the marginalized communities can access quality education. Education is an important tool that enables women and girls to participate in decisions that affect their lives and in improving their social status. Through our program, the community and parents of girls are now beginning to understand the importance of educating girls.
GEP provides technical support while working through the formal school systems as well as through the integrated programs of One Life to Love. GEP is committed towards enabling effective implementation of education provisions and policies for rights, entitlements and empowerment of girls from most marginalized sections of the society in safe and secure, inclusive and gender responsive environments.
Since OLTL’s GEP intervention, the drop-out rate in our community has reduced by half. Our goal is to ensure 100% enrollment rate and 0% drop-out rate for girls in our community.
Relief Services
Delhi is the homelessness capital. . The number of homeless population in Delhi is believed to be around 125,000, but according to the government’s record, the occupancy rate is just 8,500 – at its peak. The reason behind the low occupancy rate is the abysmal condition of homeless night shelters. Apart from this, there are around 9,240 homeless women, who are more vulnerable than the others, but there are only twenty shelters with a capacity of 2024 catering to the needs of the homeless population in the city. And even in the night shelters the cases of harassment and sexual abuse are also widely prevalent. The figures clearly show the inadequacy of the system and the abusive behavior of the city towards the poor homeless women in the capital of the country.
In response to the homelessness crisis, One Life to Love is providing relief services. We provide blankets, clothing, food, healthcare and other services to the homeless in our community. By lifting this seemingly small burden off the shoulders of the homeless, we are enabling them to save money so they can eventually uplift themselves from poverty and get off the streets.
STORIES OF LOVE: GEP
Read about the lives transformed through our GEP