Aarti Naik, founder of Sahki

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Ekya's goal in 2010/2011 was to find and fund work within the realm of women's development. We were looking to fund a strong leader, someone with passion, knowledge and a plan to make a real change.

We were fortunate enough to come across Ms. Aarti Naik and her project to provide education to local girls who live in slums. Rather than try to explain who she is, here are her own words:

I am Aarti Naik, age 24, and I belong to a marginalized community of India. I have been staying in a slum area of Mumbai since my birth. I was school dropout since 10th std. and there was no hope to continue my education but thanks to Ashoka's Youth Venture fellowship, my life has totally changed. I initiated venture SAKHI for my slum girls' education. Hence since 2008, I have been working with poor girls from a slum area to build their educational capacities to continue school education. These girls are facing so many socioeconomic problems to continue their education. Now I am proud to say that not only I am helping to slum girls to access their education but also I am continuing graduation from Open University. My life has become more meaningful with understanding the importance of girl’s education as a path of empowerment.

After listening to her story and understanding her plan, Ekya decided to provide a $5000 grant to Aarti, to help her launch her school program. She has some big plans moving forward, including creating a door-to-door library system, a library, and more. We are proud to be a part of a truly grassroots effort to bolster education for females, especially in a marginalized community

 

 

More Photos

More Information on Aarti's Project (700K, pdf)

Project Update Feb 2012