"Pink Bags" scholarships for young girls

   According to UNESCO, even today, 129.2 million girls around the world are not attending school: 32.3 million girls have no access to primary education, 29.9 million to lower secondary education, and 67 million to upper secondary education.

Only 66% of countries have achieved gender parity in access to primary education, 45% in secondary education, and 25% in higher education.

The main obstacles to girls' access to education are the lack of school facilities, the shortage of female teachers, the low value placed on education, and early marriages and pregnancies.

Education is important because it helps break the vicious cycle of individual and national poverty. According to the World Bank, secondary education contributes to an increase of 18% to 25% in future wages, and every 1% increase in educated women results in a 0.3% increase in the annual per capita GDP growth rate.

It prevents early and forced marriages and reduces maternal mortality. For girls who have studied for 7 years, the age of marriage is delayed by 4 years, and the average number of children decreases by 2.2 units.

It increases the likelihood that their children will be healthier. Every additional year of education for mothers reduces the probability of neonatal mortality for their children by 5-10%.

It doubles the likelihood that their children will attend school themselves.

PINK BAGS PROJECT IN INDIA

Thanks to the support of Mission Bambini's "pink bags" project in India, 170 girl students have been sponsored for the last 4 years.

Under the pink bags project, 100 girl children in Markapur area were helped with travel allowance and college fee, note books and bags to continue their college education.

These 100 girls were motivated through sensitization programs and home visits, and they have successfully enrolled in different colleges according to their choices and interests.

Similarly, 70 girls from Bollapalli area were identified in different villages supported under this project. They were given assistance towards college fee and transportation in addition to the provision of college bag and notebooks for all the 70 girls. The parents of these girls who are struggling to meet their expenses, especially loss occurred on crops during rainy season. They felt happy that their children’s needs were taken care up to some extent.

100 girls are studying at the vocational training center in Markapur. Specifically, 60 girls have completed a training course, with 35 in fashion design and 25 in computer programming. Out of the computer course graduates, 3 have found jobs in the private sector, 2 are working as volunteers in the village, and the rest are actively seeking employment.

As part of the educational initiative, 400 home visits have been conducted, and three annual meetings with parents have been held to raise awareness about the importance of education.

 PINK BAGS PROJECT IN BANGLADESH

The project is conducted in the districts of Satkhira and Khulna, located in the southwest of the country. The project benefits 260 girls enrolled in the last years of primary school (4th-5th grade) and 100 girls attending secondary school who will pursue tertiary education for vocational training or university studies. The goal is to improve access to secondary and tertiary education for out-of-school girls, promoting their enrollment in public schools and reducing discrimination to attain a diploma.

This is achieved by providing support for school fees, educational materials, transportation costs, meals, and sanitary pads.

Additionally, meetings with parents and community leaders are held to promote girls' education and prevent early marriages.

Outcomes:

85% of the girls involved in the program are continuing their studies.

79 out of 86 students who attended Grade V successfully completed the year and were promoted.

127 parents have participated in training meetings.

2 girls have graduated after a 4-year study program (Honors) and continue their studies.

1 girl has completed her master's degree and is seeking employment.

1 girl has found a job as a nurse in a private hospital.

STORIIES FROM BANGLADESH:

• Sunita D. is an inhabitant of Banka village in Paikgachha upazila of Khulna district. Her father runs a retail business. She has 4 sisters. Sunita is the eldest of the sisters. They are all the students of Dalit School. There are 6 people in their family. It is impossible for her father to afford such a large family and educate her daughters. But his dream is to educate girls in higher education. The girls are also very good in education. They are getting good results in every exam. Sunita participated in and passed the University Admission Test. She is currently studying in accounting at the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam University. So, she is very happy to get a chance there.
• Meghna D is from  Godaipur village. Despite being a village girl, Meghna had strong will power. She had an indomitable effort to establish herself after finishing her studies. But it was not so easy to make that possible in the rural environment. She has a brother. There are 4 members in her family. Meghna's father makes bamboo made baskets and sells them to make a living. So, he could not pay his children’s educational expenses in full. In this situation, when Meghna applied to Dalit to get monthly stipend, Dalit accepted her application and provided her guidelines and incentives to reach her goal. The entire stipend money she spent on her studies. She left the village and went to the city to finish Diploma in nursing course. After completing the diploma course, she got a job in a non-government clinic in Barisal district. Her parents' dream seemed to come true. They were very happy and thanked to Mission Bambini. Because with the help and encouragement of Dalit, Meghna had the courage to leave the village and went to the city to finish her study. Today Meghna is self-reliant.
• Godaipur village is in Godaipur union under Paikgachha Upazila of Khulna district. Brishti D. lives in this village. There are 4 members in the family. Her father is a rickshaw-van puller and mother is a housewife. Brishti  was a student of Godaipur Dalit School from nursery to class X. At present Brishti is an Honors 1st year (4 years graduation) student of Paikgachha College. She attended the orientation/ seminars for college students every month and received monthly stipend. After receiving various guidelines in the seminar, she approached the office of Paikgachha Upazila Women's Affairs Officer to get tailoring training. From there she worked as a tailor at home with 3 months of tailoring training. Upazila Women's Affairs Officer introduced her to an organization called ‘Paikgachha Koyra Development Center’. After that, Brishti  received one month training on making of handicraft goods made from yarn with different types of bags, pen vases, flower vases, trays etc. After receiving the training, she worked in handicrafts section of ‘Paikgachha Koyra Development Center’ and received BDT 500 for making of each item. Seeing the good quality of her work, the officials of the center appointed her as a part-time instructor. Brishti has formed 3 women's team in the next village. Each team she is providing training to 20 people. She wants to create a way for the unemployed women in every dalit village of Paikgachha Upazila to form their own way of income through the training.

Links:

• https://missionbambini.ch/chi-siamo/