It was late in the evening on a night this past October when my colleague and I visited Turkapalli village in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, where CRY America-supported project People’s Organization for Rural Development (PORD) has been making fantastic progress in bettering the lives of children, especially girls. After a meeting in town, PORD Director Ms. J. Lalithamma and her team guided us on the trek to the village.
When we arrived in the rural hamlet, it seemed that we had walked back through time. There were no street lights, and we were informed that there was limited access to water. The villagers, mainly people from the Muslim community, resided in small and simple houses that were built closely together.
When we met the adolescent children’s group, I could not help but think that these “stars” on the ground rivaled the brilliance of those in the night sky above. We were impressed by their confidence and enthusiasm to study and succeed. One amongst the adolescent girls was 15-year-old Prerna, who had excelled in her studies and would be joining the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) shortly.
Prerna’s story could have been markedly different, were it not for the support and encouragement that she received from PORD. Her mother is a single parent and works as a washerwoman. She is the sole bread earner in the family, and due to financial difficulties was on the verge of discontinuing her daughter’s education. Being a single parent she was also worried about her daughter’s safety and wanted to get Prerna married as soon as possible.
After the PORD team came to know about Prerna’s heightened risk of early marriage, they began counseling both daughter and mother. To ensure that Prerna was attending school, the team visited her home regularly. It was during these visits that the team learned that Prerna aspired to make a career for herself. They invited Prerna to attend career guidance sessions convened by PORD for grade 9 and 10 students.
In these sessions, the team shared the different options available to children after they successfully complete grade 10. The team presented information about courses and colleges, and conducted career-mapping activities.
Prerna shared her own dream of attending IIIT and launching a career in technology. PORD arranged for a community worker to start visiting her after school to help her with study methods and to provide encouragement. Prerna not only studied hard herself; she also supported other children, passing along information she received from the Career Guidance Sessions. In March 2022, she scored 555 marks out of 600 in her 10th grade board exams, taking first place not just in her school, but in the entire block!
As a newly admitted IIIT student, Prerna is well on her way to becoming a software engineer – and she has already become a role model for other girls in her village.
“I am extremely confident about myself and feel happy now,” Prerna told us. “Had the PORD team not given guidance on career development, I wouldn’t have worked so hard to get good scores, nor would I have applied for this course. PORD guided me at every step. My first-place standing at school and block level is owed to the career guidance and life skills sessions.”
Prerna’s story highlights a key aim of CRY America’s mission: to enable donors and supporters like you to take action to help underprivileged children to realize their full potential. Your support has made Prerna’s triumph possible – and her success is our success.
Support Projects like PORD by donating on: https://www.cryamerica.org/donation/
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