The Blossom Bus: Help Rural Girls Get To School!

As we come to the end of 2021, we are grateful to have been able to keep the Blossom Bus program running for the majority of the year. Safe and reliable transportation is a crucial aspect of ensuring access to education for young women living in rural India. 

Kunti had been riding the bus for 3 years and was in 9th grade when her father left their family. Her mother was left alone to support their family of six children. Out of desperation, Kunti’s mother took a construction job, working long, difficult hours for very little pay. Even with this job, she was unable to provide enough to keep her family fed and take care of their basic needs. In an act of desperation, and feeling out of options, Kunti’s mother married her off in January of 2020. At the time, Kunti was just 16 years old. Now a married woman with household responsibilities, Kunti had to drop out of school. Her husband was much older than her and treated Kunti badly. Soon after their marriage, Kunti found out that she was pregnant. She gave birth to the child, who tragically then died at 5 months of age. 

Having endured all of this hardship, Kunti left her husband and returned home to her mother in 2021. She re-enrolled in the High School in her district in grade 10. Kuntinow rides the Blossom Bus to and from school every day. Without the bus, she would have to walk several kilometers to and from school. By providing safe and reliable transportation, we hope to make education more accessible for girls like Kunti. She is one year behind, but is determined to complete her high school education and become financially independent. Her family is still struggling, but Kunti has decided she will complete her education and move on to bigger things, which she believes will in turn help to support her whole family on their path to wellbeing. 

Thank you for supporting young women like Kunti in pursuing brighter futures through Blossom Bus.