Till a few weeks ago, the girl admits, she was too demure to step on to the stage. On Tuesday, however, she was a picture of confidence.
In rapid strides she walked up the dais, took the mike, looked at the 100-odd gathering and shouted, “I have lost stage fear. I am not afraid anymore.”
“I want to be a District Collector,” Srisoukhya tells the gathering, adding “I want to improve the conditions in my village.”
Another girl is more still more succinct, “I am Sushmita now. In a few years, I will be Sushmita MBBS.”
1,200 girls attend
The valedictory of the 15-day ‘Voice 4 Girls’ summer camp to empower girls from underprivileged sections at the Social Welfare Residential School at Gowlidoddi village had many participants sharing their experiences at the camp.
More than 1,200 girls from Social Welfare Residential educational institutions and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya schools were part of the camp.
“We learnt so much in the last fortnight here. It has been a great learning experience,” says P.Ramya. A class X student, Lakshmi, says the focus on leadership qualities and communication skills helped them a lot.
“We were exposed to issues such finance management on how to spend and how to save which will help us as we grow,” says Sushmita.
R.S. Praveen Kumar, Secretary, APSWREI Society, exhorted the students to imbibe leadership qualities, lead by example and build credibility.
“Do not compromise but negotiate for the sake of good. Also, leadership is helping others find solutions to their issues but not doing their work,” he told them.
Mountaineering
These students will soon get an opportunity to learn the basics of mountaineering and their first challenge will be the rocks of Bhongir. “Those who pass this will have an opportunity of going in for an advanced course in Ladakh,” he said.
Averil Spencer of Voice 4 Girls said the camp trained more than 1,000 girls who would go back to their schools, hostels and homes and be harbingers of change.
The camp covered a wide gamut of issues and trained participants on how to take care of their health, safety, plan for career and finances, she added.
