Pankh gives Raviya wings, she becomes a role model for many
19 year-old Raviya belongs to a middle class family in Adampur village in Dholpur district. Her father Laxmi Narayan Lodhi is a farmer and mother Kanta is a housewife. She is the youngest of 4 siblings.
Before joining the Pankh project, Raviya was no different from any other girl of her village. She was conditioned to study as long as her family supported her and get married upon being told by her family. In 2016, she joined Pankh got an opportunity to work with adolescent girls. She mobilised 70 adolescent girls in into 3 groups and facilitated gender sessions as well as the sports sessions in her village. During the course of the project, she participated in a number of training programmes
All of this exposure led her to start thinking about her life and the future course she wanted to take. Having never stepped out of her village alone, she started travelling to Dholpur regularly to attend training and meetings. This was a huge boost to her confidence. She became a role model for many girls of her village.
Raviya soon realised that she was not ready for the marriage and wanted to study further, so she convinced her parents to support her. She started motivating girls to play Kabaddi. Under her mentorship, a girls Kabaddi team was formed in her village, and they won their first title at the District Level Kabaddi Tournament in 2017. Raviya was felicitated by the Sarpanch and other community members for her efforts. She also worked with women leaders, attended VO meetings in her village, and shared information as well as discussed issues and challenges of girls at these platforms. She also got a chance to share her learning and experience of being a part of the project with other stakeholders and government officials during a dissemination workshop in Jaipur. ” It was my first ever visit to Jaipur, and the first time I stepped out of DHolpur. I feel like I am on top of the world!” she said with pride.
Pankh literally gave Raviya wings, by widening her perspective and enabling her to think beyond the constraints of her society. She is currently pursuing her B.A. from Dholpur while simultaneously motivating other girls of her village to study further.
