Empower girls in rural India to be Champions

At Mann Deshi Champions program with the grant of global giving individual donors, we have started giving athletes daily varieties of nutrition. Initially Mann Deshi Champions provided children every morning banana, peanuts and jaggery, now as a new addition to their diet we have started giving eggs and dates. We believe that egg whites will be able to give children a source of protein and dates will give iron especially to girls.

Since month of August Mann Deshi Champions have started conducting workshops for children, to address different issues of the society. At the workshop we perform skits and plays on real life community issues. E.g. On the environment issues a co-ed group of 10 to 12 performs a skit where the buffalo dies of eating plastic wrap of a snack bar, farmer loses his livestock and money, despite of all this the one who survives is plastic wrap.

Programme Impact Sports for Development Workshop

• Increase in social indicators – social cohesion (especially related to caste), school attendance, better physical health, reduced child marriages. SDG: 1 No poverty, 4 Quality education, 5 Gender equality.
• Increased sense of self – confidence, self-esteem, safe place to play and have fun, sense of identity, participating in sports competitions, exposure to new situations, access to mentors and positive role models, new and diverse friends, growing ambitions
• Increased values – teamwork, discipline,
• Stage daring and speaking out capacity: Since the athletes are taking part to address the gender, environment, sanitation etc issues through a skit and play their ability of stage daring has increased.

Impact nutrition and health:

• Healthy mind and Healthy body
• Physio visit in September
• Injury prevention work-outs are given to wrestlers
• Awareness of their daily diets to 55 athletes

Program accomplishment in July-August- September

• In the month of August and September 7 wrestlers have won prize money of over 150,000 rupees, a marathon runner have won prize money of 100,000 rupees,
• Wrestling: Taluka: female- 9 / male- 22 District: male- 12 / female-3 (State & National still to be conducted)  
• Steeplechase: 1 National level athlete
• Discuss Throw: 1 National level athlete
• Shot-put: National
• Field hockey: female: 4 nationals / male: 1 nationals
• Track and Long distance: 1 All India
• Badminton: 1 State
• Running: Taluka: female: 22 / male: 26
• Awards: Two of our best athlete award by athletics federation of India
• Top National athletes: Reshma: Long distance, Vaishnavi: 3000 m steeplechase , Aditi Discuss throw, Sarita: Field hockey, Kajal: Field hockey. Kajal: Wrestling etc.

The wins at various competitions are creating a sense of confidence amongst the young athletes. The everyday practice at the champion’s ground enables them

SDG Indicators achieved:

• Goal 1 No poverty goal 1: Mann Deshi Champions makes sure that all the children attend school regularly. Due to the training, athletes are able to get compensated and win prizes. Some of the athletes like Reshma are the main bread-winners of the family.
• Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and Goal 3 Healthy life: Mann Deshi Champions provides nutrition to its 55 athletes in form of bananas, eggs, chicken, jaggry, peanuts, dates, almonds and protein. In the month of sept and August banana, eggs and peanuts were provided. For Goal 3 sports is a heart of SDG’s goal 3 for healthy life-style.
• Goal 4 Quality education and lifelong learning opportunity: At Mann Deshi Champions athlete all the children attend school and apart from that our workshops teaches them life skills like courage, communication, stage daring, plays and acts etc
• Goal 5: Gender Equality and empowerment of all women: program provides financial independence to some athletes as well daily work-shops and co-ed sports activities help boys and girls to understand.

Animal chaser to a marathon runner- Reshma

In San Francisco at the women’s forum Reshma said I love running, it gives me a confidence and no one can stop me. She spoke in front of 7000 business women of California. Reshma is a 4^th daughter in her family. Her father wanted to have son, from the beginning of her childhood she was unwanted. Today Reshma had represented for India in the US for a cross-country Invitational championship where she got silver medal in Virginia state.

She wakes up at 5am every day. In the morning dark, she does her long distance runs on the hills of Mann taluka. While growing up Reshma used to come to Mann Deshi Champions sports field for practice. She is the first in her family to travel to the US for competitions. Reshma is a braid-winner of the family she earns income by running marathons, she came 2^nd in Pune International Marathon. Almost every Sunday she runs marathons. Reshma earns about 20 to 30 thousand rupees in high season by running marathons.

The highlight of her life is running, she just loves running, she believes running has made her happy, confident and because of sports she is 21 years old and still not married. Sports have made her fearless and given her dignity in the community. Today Reshma’s parents who wanted a son are now recognized in the community because of Reshma’s popularity. She is a role model for young girls of her community.

In Reshma’s community, every girl her age is already married and stays at home looking after their families. On other side because of sports, recognition in the community and earning income Reshma is traveling different countries and exploring life. Today Reshma trains for long distances in Pune.

Mann Deshi Champions provides an opportunity to play sports and bring a smile on children’s face. It’s not just about a competition it’s an opportunity to play, make friends, build a confidence and sense of self-esteem.

In a world where a child’s biggest burden is to bear the weight of her schoolbag and the biggest worry is to study, play and to manage to eat three meals a day. Asmita on the other hand has to carry the weight of the household and has to worry if she would be able to provide even one square meal a day to her sick mother.

12 years old, Asmita has to shoulder such responsibilities that no child of this age should ever be concerned about. Her day starts at 3 am in the morning. The time usually spent by children daydreaming and building their own little fairy tales is the time which Asmita is jarred into the harsh reality where she builds a brick fort by keeping the hot, newly made bricks one after the other in such a tight formation that there is no room for light or dreams to penetrate through. Her work consists of catching the newly made bricks thrown at her and then lining them up .It’s almost like playing ball but here there is no room for mistakes for if she drop the bricks, she either faces the danger of injuring herself or faces the wrath of her father provided of course that the fatal smoke constantly being brewed up underneath the factory doesn’t get to her first.

It would be pretty evident that poverty is the reason for Asmita’s hardships but more than that it’s love. Love for her sick mother. The mother, who In order to provide for her family has sacrificed her life to hard labor and has exerted herself so much that now she fights such illness which she doesn’t even know the name of. This illness has been a curse upon her entire family because no matter how much they work , they never seem to pay off the medical bills .It is in this time that Asmita and her family have to leave their home in the village and work day and night in the brick factory. Asmita along with her home has to also sacrifice her school and her wrestling practice of Mann Deshi Champions for days to end. But despite all this she is passionate, about her studies as well as wrestling and never gives up on it. Her family, despite their condition support her full heartedly for they want to see their little daughter make a name for herself for they know she has the potential .The daughter too wants to live up to their expectations and her only dream is to be capable enough to provide and fulfil each and every desire of her parents .Therefore along with every responsibility that has been thrusted on her , she dreams of being a national level wrestler and works towards fulfilling this dream whenever she can. the coach of Mann Deshi, the organization who provides her with economical as well as infrastructural support also has a lot of faith riding on her. Who knew that the Dangal wrestling movie will inspire 1000’s of young Asmita’s. At Mann Deshi Asmita has made new friends and she has become a role model for younger children.

Today with your support children like Asmita has found the identity and a smile on their faces. Asmita is dreaming of becoming a world-class wrestler and for that she is ready to work hard and do whatever it takes.