BROOKLYN, New York — Across the world, millions of women and girls are prevented from receiving an education during their lifetime. Whether it be due to poverty, societal expectations and cultural values or humanitarian crises, up to 130 million girls are not enrolled in formal education. This phenomenon is notably prevalent in India.
India has among the lowest rates of women enrolled in upper secondary and tertiary education compared with other OECD and partner countries. The number of female teaching staff is also among the lowest. While the rate of educated women in India leaves much to be desired, initiatives worldwide are working to change it.
The Women’s Education Project
The Women’s Education Project, based in New York City, is a nonprofit that helps women receive education and gain a head start in their careers. Zoe Timms, the Women’s Education Project founder, has been operating the NGO since 2002. She has sat down with The Borgen Project to provide insight into her organization.
“During my senior year at the University of Wisconsin, I lived in Hyderabad. I started teaching English at a hostel for girl child laborers,” Timms told The Borgen Project. “These girls were coming straight from the factories and were living in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad.”
In Hyderabad, women and girls were forced to work in textile and garment factories from their youth. Many of these girls were born into poverty and had to work out of necessity for their families. As a result, they miss out on the vital education they need to pull them out of the cycle of poverty.
“When I got back to New York, I said [to Esther Subhashini]‘This is what I want to do,’” Timms stated. “I just love the grassroots education work. Seeing the transformation of the lives of these girls, who were coming in with unwashed hair and scars on their hands from working and just seeing how a simple program transformed their lives. They started laughing and giggling, like little girls should be. I just really loved the work.”
The Women’s Education Project, with Subhashini’s help, originally started as a scholarship program in Madurai, India. Timms and a group of individuals set up shop in a small house in the city. They provided funding for girls to attend schools and even receive tutors during their time.
Community, Careers and Change
Eventually, the mission of the Women’s Education Project changed. After fully immersing themselves in the lives of their scholarship recipients, the team realized that further action was needed to achieve their true goal: providing women with a proper education, regardless of economic status. The developers decided to try a multiple-pillar approach. The first pillar, according to Timms, was building up the community of women through socialization.
“We just started listening to what they needed and it was clear from the beginning that what they needed shouldn’t just be a scholarship program, that they needed a space to hang out and be with friends, to realize that they weren’t alone,” Timms told The Borgen Project. “They had community, they had friendship, they had space to be themselves.”
Second to socializing these young women was the use of local resources. Local educators and sponsors are a core part of the Women’s Education Project, which is building a strong alumni network in the streets of Madurai. “As we developed over the years, we hired a local director to run the program,” Timms said. “It was very important. She [the director]spoke the language and had a connection to the students we just didn’t have.”
The next pillar is preparing these young women for a career after their education ends. Educators and alumni at the Women’s Education Project prepare their students for careers in all fields: finance, computer science, health care, education, hospitality and more.
“The third pillar is the alumni network we’ve created,” Timms said. “The alumni teach the students everything they have learned through our program and pass on those career skills. They teach the girls everything they know, from computer science and programming to medicine. They let the girls know what options they have.”
Keeping Donors Connected
“The individual is so important,” Timms stated, “And to keep that person donating $50 a year informed, so they continue giving that $50 donation, is essential. Monthly giving is essential.”
Timms claims that the small, consistent donations are like the beating heart of the Women’s Education Project. While it may seem insignificant, a small, consistent donation keeps the nonprofit afloat. It allows the leaders to continue engaging with their donors.
Keeping them informed through open communication is the kind of interpersonal development that brings textbooks and teachers to schools that desperately need them.
Final Remarks
“We’re a very small organization with a strategy in place for enormous growth,” Timms stated when asked about expansion. “But with a strategic plan to take all of the resources we’ve collected over the years, our leaders can provide those resources for their communities.”
While small, the Women’s Education Project has been expanding exponentially in the 23 years since its formation. Bouncing between New York City and remote villages in India, the people behind the Women’s Education Project all work toward a common goal: providing some of the world’s most deprived people with an unquestionable human right, the right to learn.
– Zoe Alatsas
Zoe is based in Brooklyn, NY, USA and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Flickr