The Girl Child and why we should invest in her
Sonali Patnaik

“Only as we move closer to realizing the rights of all children will countries move closer to their goals of development and peace.” - Kofi Annan

Friends let us take a look at what is happening to the girl child to understand why we should be investing in her :
This is what Kausalya a seven year old girl child from Nuapada has to say, “My father is suffering from TB and is bed ridden. My mother is pregnant. She can’t work much and needs to take care of my father. I have a brother who is two years younger than me and studies in class II. I have to work to support my family. I assist in construction of houses as a daily wage labourer. I have to cook and feed everyone. I wish I could go to school like others. I am tired. My arms ache. ” This is the plight of the girl child in our country. For reasons beyond the girl’s control, from a tender age she has to be the breadwinner. Her dreams remain as dreams whilst she works towards ensuring that the dreams of her brother and family someday may materialize.

Who is a child?
A child is defined as someone who has not completed fourteen years of age. From 14 till the completion of 17 years a person is an adolescent and 18 years onwards an adult. However, institutions like UNICEF consider a person to be a child till he/she is 18 years of age.

What is the situation?
In India only four girls out of every 10 girls enroll in school for a complete eight years of schooling. The dropout rates are high. The reasons- impoverishment, large families and a pre conceived mid set that defines gender based roles, clearly putting the pressures on the girl child to rock the cradle, assist in feeding the mouth and bread winning. Every second child in India is malnourished. In Tribal India a girl child is always welcome because she is the bread winner in the family at the same time in Rural and Urban India her presence is abhorred because she is seen as a liability for who dowry has to be paid. The general thought is the girl child is needed to work and support the family so “Why invest in her education when she will get married and go to another home?”.
According to the Census of India 1991, out of 402.8 million women there were 153.85 million girls in the age group of 0-14 years. The sex ratio for girls has been deteriorating over the decades. From 972 in 1901, it has come down to 945 in 1991 and to 927 in 2001. It’s been over a decade now, that gender determination tests are being widely used in spite of being banned in India. The worrying trend has prompted the move to make amendments to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Tests (Prevention of Misuse) Act 1994 (PCPNDT Act), yet there is no slowing down. Female Infanticide is one of the reasons for decline of the sex ratio. Alarmingly it is the educated mass of our society that goes in for sex determination thanks to the “Male Child Syndrome”. What should be sparingly used to detect abnormalities in the foetus/ child in the womb or abnormalities in pregnancies is used for detection of the sex and female infanticide.
In middle class families of semi urban, urban and rural India female infanticide not uncommon due to fear o marriage and dowry costs. In rural India gruesome methods are also used- like putting a stick or rags inside the womb and ensuring that the fetus or child is destroyed and others. Of course we have doctors to make money out of this situation and build their homes at the cost of someone who could have been a responsible woman citizen of our country had she taken birth and been allowed to grow in a safe environment. Today men from states like Haryana and UP visit other states to hunt for wives. Among the lower economic rungs of their society trafficking of women, young girls to serve as wives for an entire family of men is not uncommon.
Trafficking and forced prostitution is not uncommon. The scare of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases have led to trafficking of the girl child in alarming numbers so that men can buy them at high rates. Sleeping with a virgin will save them from such diseases is the prevalent belief. The news media is full of stories of such sorts coming in from Delhi and West Bengal.
Again Sex-bias in health care is largely prevalent in our country and in our state. This by itself accounts for higher female mortality and poor girl child survival. Lack of knowledge on the physiological growth and needs of the girl child has led to early marriages, continuous pregnancies, and prevalence of malnourishment and anaemia, high infant and maternal mortality, poor reproductive and child health as well as limited access to medical facilities.

As citizens what and how should we invest for the wellbeing of the girl child?

1. Invest in survival of the girl child:
By look forward to having a girl child in the family! They are cute, loving and understanding, compassionate and good for the heart and wellbeing of a family. No family is complete without experiencing her.
Motivate your neighbors, friends and family members to have girl children and educate them
Ensure that people in your locality are not going in for sex determination and abortions of the girl child. If not your locality, at least your family, friend circle.
Report cases of unlawful sex determination and abortion rackets in your area by doctors/clinics/hospitals
Invest your time and money in the health of a girl child. If not yours as yours is well off… but of a child who is deprived and vulnerable.
Associate with organisations/ NGOs working on these issues and help them raise funds.
Spread awareness

2. Invest in child protection:
Report any form of abuse of the girl child to the police immediately
In your society/ organisation discuss various forms of child abuse (boys are as vulnerable as girls) and take measures to stop any if it comes in your view.
Associate with an organisation/ NGO that works on child protection. Any kind of help- funds for child protection, spreading awareness on abuse and protection will make wrong doers think twice.
Support a girl child who is vulnerable with empathy directly
Associate with organisations/ NGOs working on these issues and help them raise funds.
Spread awareness

3. Invest in Child Development:
Ensure that the girl children in your family are educated and independent! They must have the best of education that you can provide and should also be able to use this education
Support a girl child who has no access to education or good health and is vulnerable with finances Associate with an organisation/ school/ NGO by giving children books to read, sponsoring their education
Sponsor the overall development of a girl child
Train girl children who are poor with vocational skills and non formal education
Spread Awareness

4. Invest in Child Participation:
If you are a part of a society or an organisation hold/ organise or sponsor such programmes that call for child participation, so that children are a part of all development processes
Have fund raising programmes with children in the forefront so that you can use the funds for their wellbeing.
Ensure that children in your locality are not deprived of any social activities
Associate with organisations/ NGOs working on these issues and help them raise funds.
Spread awareness

Child Participation, Protection, Development and Survival are all a part of the United Nation’s goal for the well being of children of the world. A number of organisations/ NGOs are working on these issues.

Why not us?

What will we gain :
A safe environment for the development of the girl child
Ensured survival of the girl child
Protection of the girl child
Improved sex ratio of the country
A more educated mass
A more healthy mass
The satisfaction of looking into the wellbeing of a person who has been vulnerable
Exemption from income taxes if you are investing money for any such issue through an NGO that has tax exemption for donations
Scope to demonstrate and use your skills for the benefit of a child

The girl child we are talking about could be yours. Are you ready to ensure her wellbeing?

For further Information and how to associate contact:
Sonali Das Patnaik

Mobile:0 91 9937207349
Email:- sonalipatnaik@yahoo.com

Investing in a Social Cause

Have you heard this song before?

“Reach out and touch

somebody’s hands and make this word a better place

if you can.”
- Diana Ross

Investing in a Social Cause is for all those people who feel they want to contribute to making a difference in someone’s life or community or environment, for those who wish to see a smile on a face that has been deprived of a smile, to reach out to the vulnerable….maybe a child, a parent, a family, a community or a society in need or may be even nature. But unless someone like you cares, nothing is ever going to change. It’s about shared responsibility in bringing about positive changes instead of putting the load on someone else’s back to bring about that change.

Have these questions ever crossed your mind?

I have a large network of friends, well wishers, associates and colleagues and each of them at some point or the other have said-

“I have a great job, fantastic family, a comfortable life but I wish I could do something for someone in need and really make a difference in his/her life. I just don’t know how to go about it.”

Others have said, “How can I contribute? What can I do? How can I use my knowledge or skills or resources to make a difference? Will it actually make a difference??”

There are yet others who show anger and say- “Why isn’t anybody doing anything?”

Friends, it’s easy to complain and put blame, however “have you/I tried doing anything?” is what should be asked.

I work in a sector called the Development Sector, which is these days referred to as the Third Sector. The Third Sector deals with issues relating to socio-economic and environmental causes. India has a numerous International Donors working on country programmes, the Government has its own funds/schemes, however the canvas of issues and challenges are so deep and so wide the more you paint the more it absorbs the colours and yet is an incomplete picture. India, with a population touching over a two billion people has 72.2% of its population living in rural areas. 26.1% of India’s population lives on less than one dollar a day (Asian Development Bank , 2004 Country Strategy Programme Update, 2005-2007, India, Asian Development Bank CSP: Ind 2004-16). Poverty is an alarming reality.

But apart from poverty and its impact on a child, an individual, a family a community or society as a whole there are other issues that make us wonder about what’s happening to this world- issues relating to child abuse, domestic violence, climate change, terrorism and others that cut across all socio-economic classes or strata of our nation. These could be happening in our very own homes, our neighborhood, our community/ state and so on. Should we have educated citizens and “netizens” just close our eyes and run away from it all? Leaving the good changes to happen to International donors and the Government is not a solution by itself.

So let’s take a look at what the mantra for bringing about change is all about:

We can’t change the world, but maybe we can change ourselves and maybe we can make a difference in the lives of few people beyond our own self.

Lets give light so that people will find their own way…Let’s empower…..Lets enable others and make a difference.

Let’s make life beautiful for someone, let’s make life beautiful for the coming generations.

Let’s live to love not just ourselves but even those who we do not know.

If we cannot make things better for those who are around us or are in need or are vulnerable, let’s not make things worse for them.

A line that influenced me a lot when I was a teenager is a statement made by:
Dr. Swami Arupananda, Ph.D., D.Sc., the Chairman of Arupa Mission Research Foundation and institution I have been associated with for the past 15 years –

“Humanity is our Religion. And knowledge with love and devotion is our path. It doesn’t cost much to be Humane.”

Friends let’s invest in being humane and in humanity.

So how can you or I invest in a Social Cause? How can you or I invest in Humanity?

Develop a empathy for a particular issue / cause

Advocate for the issue /cause

Be the tool of change

Let’s look at these three points a little more deeply:

Developing Empathy for a particular issue / cause is all about identifying that or those issues that have touched your heart deeply, that have moved you to feel to want to do something or resolve the issue. Read about it, talk about it, and share your views on it. Don’t sympathise, but put yourself in that person’s place and feel the emotions, the pain, and the agony. The deprived and vulnerable, the abused do not want your sympathies for what is happening in their lives. What they need is our understanding, some light from us so that they can use the light that you show to build their path and come out of gloom.

Advocating for the issue or cause is about spreading awareness on the issue that has touched your heart and talking about solutions, precautions, legal aid. To advocate lets build our knowledge on those issues and then talk to our family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and others, even those who are the deprived and suffering.

Being the Tool is all about sharing your

time

knowledge
skills
resources

These will help in resolving if not the entire issue but even a part of it with generosity. Practicing generosity makes the heart grow stronger. Ask yourself- “What are you feeling in your heart while your hands are giving?

For example,

If you are an MBA you can share your knowledge and skills in the organisation development of Non Government Organisations and community Based Organisations. You can assist in marketing and branding. You can help community level institutions such as Self Help Groups, water Users Associations, farmer Interest Groups, the Anganwadis and others in developing managerial skills.

If you are into software, help in developing a website for institutions who do not have the knowledge or skill to do so, assist them with databases and analysis.

If you do not have the time to share your knowledge or skills, share your financial resources. No not the entire amount. No not half of it… maybe just 1% of it or any amount you are comfortable with and wish to.

You could even buy products from institutions that are associated with various social development causes and in return help the institution spend money on social development programmes.

There’s lots more you can do…….

What will you or I gain from Investing in a Social Cause or being humane?

The contentment of having stood by a social cause/ issue effectively

The contentment of having brought about change ins someone’s life for the better

An opportunity to share your skills and knowledge

An opportunity to be responsible person in bringing about positive changes

If you are donating then, exemption from IT under the section 80 G

A product bought by you will help in supporting a programme for the vulnerable and deprived.


Audrey Hepburn the famous Actor once said,

“You will discover that you have two hands. One is for your self and the other is for helping others.”