With students at the Navi Diva Centre; celebrating success at Sarangpur
Centre; guests of honour at Ankleshwar Rotary Club; trying out the local mode
of transport .....
Ilminster Rotarians John Wood and Linda Piggott-Vijeh were joined by
John's wife Beverley to meet first hand the 116 women who have benefited from a
jointly funded literacy project in rural areas of Gujarat.
Initiated by Manish Shah of the Rotary Club of Ankleshwar, the project
has provided an inspirational lifeline for these women, aged from 17 to 35,
many of whom are mothers, to complete their education. This will give them
better opportunities to be able to obtain good employment and to improve the
lives of their families.
The women study for 5 hours a day at one of six centres across the area
and all will be taking their grade 10 examinations next month.
Said Linda 'This has been a truly humbling experience, which has brought
me to tears. To hear of the individual stories of hardship and in some cases,
violence, that these women have had to overcome is heart rending; all just
because they want to be educated. This is something that we take for granted at
home, whereas here their equipment consists of an empty room, and few few worn
text books. Nothing else, no desks, no air conditioning, no computers, just a
desire to better their lives and those of their families. This is what Rotary
is really all about'.
Nice post Linda. Really was an experience of a lifetime.
ReplyDelete