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Disha – A step in the right direction!

There was a vibe of hope, optimism and a can-do attitude in the air as students at Samarth Vidyalaya, Kalina, participated in a training conducted under the Disha initiative of Avashya Foundation, the CSR arm of Allcargo Logistics, in August 2019. Carried out in partnership with Gold Culture, the training aimed at building confidence among young girls. It was a perfect combination of education and women empowerment, both causes very close to the heart of Mrs. Arathi Shetty, Head CSR Committee, Avashya Foundation and Non-Executive Director, Allcargo Logistics.

When you don’t belong to the privileged section of society and have grown up seeing parents deal with financial struggles owing to their jobs in the unorganised sector, it’s not easy to dream big. Lack of exposure and knowledge about the infinite possibilities is the biggest constraint. How do you choose what you want without any idea of your options? This was the first barrier that the training addressed for the young girls at Samarth Vidyalaya. And once their dreams took flight, there was no stopping them! Their goals ranged from wanting to be an IPS officer, teacher, doctor, to joining the army or being a dancer, actress, beautician, scientist and more.

To make sure that these girls don’t back down and remain confident in the face of challenges, they were taught a few simple rhymes to help them subconsciously imbibe and reiterate the messages of facing one’s fears bravely and finding their way out of difficult situations instead of running from them.

In order to capture their journey to their goals, the girls were taught how to create a roadmap to it. In an amazing display of creativity and willingness to leverage technology, they did online research and used their artistic abilities to draw their unique course towards their dream.

Sharing tips and techniques to study better also formed part of the training. It worked really well to start with subjects that the girls liked and then move on to subjects like maths or geography that they found challenging. Students and their parents were counselled on the importance of education and the goal sheets were signed by parents too, to show their commitment.

Right from a very individual point of view on how education would help them give themselves and their parents a better life to the big picture of how their talent and skills would contribute to building the nation, the girls were given a perspective on how they had the power to transform their life and motivate others in their community.

The wave of confidence rose higher owing to the fact that the assistance would not stop after their 10th or 12th board exams but continue right until they had graduated and found their way.

Here’s to raising young girls from all backgrounds into strong women who will lead the world to success and progress!