I was in my Year 7 studying in a remote village Kanubari, Arunachcal Pradesh, India when an incident shook me. One of my then best friends “Tika Maya” a girl from the local Wancho tribe suddenly stopped coming to school. We later found out that her family will not send her to school anymore and she will be getting married soon. I never saw her again. That incident shook me but as I grew up I realised Tika Maya was not alone. There are many more like her. And this is not a story just in one remote village in India. There are many such girls in under developed nations across the world.

I passionately support my cause to educate underprivileged girls. I believe that education will give them a good start in life, empower them to make better decisions and break this viscous cycle of child marriage, poverty and many more social evils. Please help me in supporting this cause, I am doing the 5k color run this Sunday 8th July at Wembley to raise funds for Project Nanhi Kali and support girl child education. As little as 6p (yes you read it right 6p..) will help fund education for a child for one day. Any donations as little as they may be will be much appreciated 🙏🏼

EVIDENCE – OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

• Despite all international and national efforts, 31 million girls are still out of school around the world.

• Girls are more likely to never enter primary school than boys.

• Less than 40% of countries provide girls and boys with equal access to education. Only 39% of countries have equal proportions of boys and girls enrolled in secondary education.

• 54 million of the 76 million illiterate young women live in only 9 countries

Source: Unesco

Project Nanhi Kali was initiated in 1996 by the K. C. Mahindra Education Trust (KCMET) with the aim of providing primary education to underprivileged girl children in India. Project Nanhi Kali supports 130,751 girls across 12 states in India so far. Find out more about all the good work they do at https://www.nanhikali.org/ and how you can support it.