Thank You From the Girls We Serve

November 30, 2015

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This Giving Tuesday the girls we serve want to thank you, the donors who are making a huge positive impact on their lives.

Because of your support, in 2015 Shadhika was able to expand its reach to two new sites in Delhi and Bangalore. In Delhi, we are supporting STOP India – an organization that works to rescue girls that have been victims of sex trafficking. In Bangalore, we are supporting Baale Mane – a safe haven for girls and young women who have previously been forced into child labor. In the last year, we have expanded our outreach from four cities to six. We now support organizations working with at-risk girls in every major city in India.

In the last 12 months Shadhika also initiated a College Scholarship Program for girls graduating from high school. Ten girls have started university level programs in nursing, banking and accounting. The Shadhika Scholarship Program guarantees the recipients financial support for three years, the usual length of time to earn a bachelor’s degree in India.

In addition, your support has helped Shadhika launch entrepreneurship training for former victims of sex trafficking at STOP India, helped start a life skills/job readiness program for the girls completing their computer training program at Uddami, and has secured a $40,000 grant from Dining for Women (a donor circle) to operate two of Vacha’s centers in Mumbai for the next two fiscal years.

This year more at-risk girls in India are having a chance to escape early marriage and a life of poverty; they are getting a chance to pursue their aspirations by completing their schooling, training for a career, learning about their rights, and gaining leadership skills to become agents of change in their communities.

Looking into 2016 we hope to double our college scholarship fund, expand our reach to 2-3 new communities, help our current grantees grow their capacity, and launch a Career Initiative that will expose girls to career opportunities in the fields of medicine, IT, and finance. We look forward to continuing to work with you in the coming year on these efforts.

On behalf of all of us, thank you for your generosity and continuous support – it means the world to the girls we serve.