In the midst of Covid, schools in India are still closed, girls are even more vulnerable to child marriage, gender-based violence and sex trafficking. We know that many school girls in our schools in tribal areas are now being married as young as 14 years of age. Even more shocking is the staggering 600% increase in the trafficking of young girls.

Yet in the midst of seeming hopelessness, Saphara continues our mission of creating safe spaces where girls can discover their own value and resilience through the Saphara Girl Champions programme. We have already reached over five thousand girls, seeing them grow in confidence and flourishing in spite of the many challenges they face.

Girls like Ritika from Kaplani School. Saphara Girl Champions encouraged her not to give up her dream of studying to be a doctor, even though her local community believed that this was only for boys from rich families. Today, with a scholarship from Saphara, Ritika is determined to show all the girls in her village that girls can become doctors too.