Aiming high

Suwarna P (name changed) is a beacon of hope for children who drop out of school at a young age due to financial problems in the family. Now in Class X, in Tawalkapur, Nalgonda, Suwarna did not have a rosy childhood. Her father passed away when she was in Class IV, leaving the family in shambles. “My father had two wives and my mother is the second one and in total, I have five sisters. I was too young to comprehend what was going on when my father died. I was informed that he passed away due to kidney failure,” she shares. As the family was in distress young Suwarna had to drop out of school to support her family financially. She had worked in agriculture fields in nearby villages and also worked on Mirchi crops in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

Under the anti-child labour project intervention ‘Mahita – Plan India’, which was implemented in Tawalkapur village, she was rescued from agriculture labour work and was enrolled in school. However, Suwarna was reluctant to join the school back as she thought feeding the family was more imperative than getting herself an education. “My total focus was on supporting my family as going to school would render me out of work. However, the headmaster of the school counselled me and my mother about the importance of education and thanks to ‘Mahita — Plan’ project and headmaster I became a regular student and now I want to continue my studies without any delay.”

After project intervention ‘Mahita – Plan’ formed the Child Forum Committee at the village level. Suwarna became the face of the Committee and she with her sheer hard work and determination rescued 50 children from various labour induced works and enrolled them back to the school. Apart from that, she facilitated in stopping six child marriages in her villageCurrently, she is the president of the Committee. To check the progress of the rescued kids, she regularly monitors their attendance and keeps a follow up about them. The Child Forum Committee under her leadership works with the school teachers, panchayat and Child Protection Committee. “My objective is to make sure that every girl completes high school and skilled enough to earn and be financially independent.”

Suwarna’s ambition is to become a social worker, however, her mother wants her to become a police officer. “I want to fulfil my mother’s dream and i will take some time out and pursue my passion of helping people through my social work and see that kids, especially girls do not suffer like me.” From being a school dropout to a class topper now, Suwarna has surely come a long way and seeing the determination and zeal in her eyes we are sure that she will tread on the path of success in near future.