Thursday, December 24, 2009

Global Girl News: Dec 24, 2009


  • Did you know that adolescent pregnancy and childbirth related deaths are the number one killer of 15-19 years old girls? Each year 2.2 to 4 million adolescents resort to unsafe abortion, and ninety nine per cent of maternal deaths occur in the developing world. It is important to note that 74 per cent are preventable. If you are interested to learn more, then take a look at this article.

  • Have you ever thought about the ways in which HIV is linked to poverty and gender inequality? According to this study, there is a growing infection rate among young women and adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 24. One third of all women living with HIV also fall within this age range. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, an overwhelming three-quarters of those living with HIV are female. Take a look at this study and let us know your thoughts!

  • Here is a list of some very empowering stories and narratives on various gender related issues and concerns. I especially like Khushbu’s story, let us know which one is your favorite!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Season's Greetings

On behalf of everyone here at the Goal programme, we want to wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyous new year.

Alisha is taking off on a long holiday, but Marjan will be blogging a bit - there's still lots happening! We are closer than ever to announcing our new partners, and in India, the Chennai programme is launching and Delhi and Mumbai are rolling along.

Expect great things from us in 2010!


Monday, December 14, 2009

Global Girl News: Dec 14, 2009

  • The Global Gender Gap Report 2009 is out! And the good news is that out of the 115 countries, more than two thirds have reported gains in the overall score, indicating that the world has become a better place in terms of gender equality. Do you agree? See how 'well' your country is doing!
  • What are your views on child marriage? If you are interested to hear young girls’ marriage stories, then take a look at this article.
  • If you have an hour to spare, then watch this powerful PBS documentary and learn more about child marriage.
  • If you wanna take action in ending child marriage around the world, then you might find ‘Ending Child Marriage: a guide for global policy action’ toolkit very useful!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Global Girl News: December 4


  • If you are interested in promoting justice and equality for girls, then you might want to check Justice for Girls out, and see in what ways they fight for social justice based on the idea that young women in poverty are the experts of their own experiences.
  • Half the Sky is an exceptionally inspiring book on women’s life-stories and the challenges they face. Definitely check it out if you get a chance!
  • Read Rani’s inspirational story and see in what ways Compassion beyond Borders is helping disadvantaged adolescent girls around the world to have access to education.
  • Here is another article that confirms the importance of investing in young girls in order to reduce poverty.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Amazing new resource for data on girls

We were so excited to find out that Girls Discovered has finally launched! This amazing website pulls together global data on girls in an easy-to-use map format.

Data on girls is hard to gather for a number of reasons - lots of existing data sources aren't gender disaggregated (meaning we might know a number for "youth" but not boys and girls"), and girls can often be hidden from traditional methods of data collection (like, if a male researcher was sent out to a village, what are the chances someone is going to let their daughter talk to him alone?). So we are so thrilled that this new site has pulled together old and new data to easily access knowledge on girls and their status in the world. In the words of the ever eloquent GI Joe, "Knowing is half the battle."

Thanks to the Nike Foundation, UN Foundation, and our friends at Maplecroft who did such an amazing job with this database! It's absolutely a gamechanger.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

World AIDS Day 2009



Today is World AIDS Day, and around the world people will be uniting in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

We at Goal believe that learning about how to protect yourself from HIV is one of the most critical life skills a girl can have. That's why we include HIV education in our curriculum.

Do something to mark the day: Get Protected.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Global Girl News: 27 November


  • In what ways do you think poor women are affected by climate change? What are its implications for young girls? According to the UNFPA, women suffer the most from drought, rising seas, melting glaciers and other consequences of climate change. They have urged world leaders to address this issue in the UN Climate Change Conference (Dec 7th-18th 2009) next month. What do you think can be done to make a change?
  • The British public believe that the best way to help stop poverty in the developing world is to invest in education for girls. For example, studies have confirmed that £2 billion could be added to the Kenyan economy if the country educated its girls to secondary school level. These are only a couple of powerful points that Plan highlights in their ‘Girls without Voices’ campaign.
  • Here is another interesting news article on the importance of educating girls.
  • If you are still not convinced why it is important to invest in adolescent girls’ education, then you might want to check this short article!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Global Girl News: 24 November

  • Do you agree that none of the Millennium Development Goals could be met unless there is significant progress in girl’s lives? Well, this is only one of the findings of this really insightful UN report on the importance of the link between young girls, education, and development.
  • How much do you think you know about women and girls’ status around the world? Take this short test and find out!
  • There are also some interesting resources here to learn about young girls’ lives.
  • Do you agree with the Chinese proverb ‘Women hold up half the sky’? Read this excellent report in order to learn about the economic as well as non-economic achievements and goals for women around the world, and let us know to what degree you (dis)agree with the proverb!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Good luck to Hansa & Nayana!

We are proud to announce that 2 Goal participants, Hansa Pardeshi and Nayana Pardeshi, have been selected to play as part of the Thane district team at the Junior State level Netball tournament at the Akole town in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. This exciting event will take place from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2009. Good luck girls!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Global Girl News: 11 November


  • Interesting article about the ways in which different types of violence impact young girls’ education in Ethiopia. 
  •  Are you ready to challenge yourself, celebrate young girls’ accomplishments, and connect with other people who have the same concerns as you? If you have said yes to any of the above questions then you might want to check out The Centenary of International Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting. It starts in 2010 and the Europe Region WAGGGS wants to kick off this celebration by bringing together members from all over Europe to eurolife.03 from 28 December 2009 to 2 January 2010. 

  • Are you interested to learn more about teen pregnancy and the significance of reproductive and sexual health knolwedge? Here is an insightful report on teen pregnancy in Malawi.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Graduation Day at Globe Mills Passage School!

GOAL programme completed the curriculum with first batch of participants at all the 3 sites in Mumbai, namely, Hamara Foundation, Asha Sadan and Globe Mills and it was convocation time!

We had recruited 160 girls and it was heartening to see 111 girls complete the programme successfully. Graduation ceremony was organized at the Globe Mills Municipal School on Saturday, September 12, 2009 and the successful candidates were felicitated. Quite a few SCB staff part were present to encourage the young girls.

Here are a few highlights:

-Girls from Hamara Foundation gave a lovely performance on a Hindi song number- catch the moment of truth in the video attached

-All successful participants were awarded a certificate and a pair of shoes (in case you are wondering why shoes, nothing better than a good pair of shoes for the young netball players). These were distributed by our employees

-Since netball is an integral part of the GOAL programme, the event concluded with an exciting netball match between the three sites!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Drawing Competition at Hamara Foundation


An environment day was organized at Hamara Foundation (which is one of our NGO partners in Mumbai). A drawing competition themed “Protecting our Environment” was held to mark the day.

The enthusiastic Goal participants were asked to express their thoughts on nurturing and protecting our environment. In all the fun and frolic, we did see some interesting and thought provoking ideas coming from the group.

And of course, the judge (one of our volunteers from the Bank) had a tough time in selecting the top 3 drawings!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Nalamdana: Welcome to Goal!



We are pleased and proud do welcome our newest Goal partner in India (and first in Chennai) to the programme. Nalamdana works to empower communities in Chennai and will be rolling out Goal in partnership with Naz and SCB staff.

Stay tuned for our official Chennai launch.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Start with a Girl!

"The health of adolescent girls is everyone's business. We all need to step up to the plate to embrace this ambitious agenda." If you wanna know why then you might want to take a look at this fascinating report!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Beyond Sport News

A few months ago Goal was proud to win the Beyond Sport Award. Now Here is an exciting new article about us and our new programs!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Spotlight: Meet Sandhya

We are so proud of Sandhya for being selected to play for the Delhi team in the School National Games which will be held at Chattisgarh! Sandhya has been part of the Goal programme for the past two years, and joined as a Coach in August 2009.

“The programme brought about a lot of change in me. Earlier I was very bossy and would sometimes bully others as well. Now I understand that everyone has the right to speak and express his or her point of view, which need not match with mine but are equally important.”

Sandhya had always been a prankster at school and was known to be a troublemaker by her teachers and schoolmates. However, as she became involved in Goal, many underlying leadership qualities in her started showing as she started taking initiative in netball and attended all the sessions. She would constantly ask questions and was completely committed and involved in the programme. Her teachers were very happy to see that her behavior and attitude towards her teachers and friends also started to change with her participation in the Goal activities. This is what her school-principal had to say:

“Since Sandhya has been part of Goal there has been a tremendous change in her. She used to always be in the bad books with her teachers. Now she has improved her communication and social skills and is polite and gentle as she speaks. She has shown great leadership qualities as I watch her teaching netball to the new Goal participants”. Ms Shikha Pal, Principal, Deepalaya Govindpuri School

Global Girl News: 21 October

**A new feature where we find news and programmes from around the world and share them with you - Comment below if you have any suggestions!**


-Do you really believe that “Together We Can Change the World”? Then perhaps you might be interested to take part in this really exciting forum that will be held next October.

-Here is an interesting list of what can be done by/through young girls in order to end poverty. What else do you think should be added to the list?

-'Investing in women and girls is the key to ending global poverty’. It definitely is. Check this article out to find out why!

- ‘Girls Count’! This is an excellent online-resource for those who are interested to know why girls are important to the world!

-This is a very interesting article on young Chinese girls and HIV/AIDS. It suggests that the number of 15-24 year old girls who have been infected with HIV/AIDS is rapidly increasing. However, despite insufficient information on sex-segregated data, the author comes up with new speculations on what is going on. If you are interested to learn more check it out here.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Have you joined the Girl Revolution?


A great article on WorldPulse with some great resources!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Be our follower and friend!


Goal has a twitter feed and a facebook fan page! Please follow us - and also, anyone out there know how to use Twitter? We are newbies!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Calling all potential partners!

Attention: Are you an NGO working with girls in the following countries: India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, or Jordan? Are you interested in partnering with us on Goal?

We are activitely seeking potential partners and will shortly be sending out requests for information. If you think you might be a good match, email us now!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Big BIG news!


We've been teasing for a while now that we're going global with Goal, but now the news is official! See the press release below for more exciting details, and get in touch if you have ideas, questions, or comments.



Standard Chartered Bank’s Goal to empower adolescent girls through sport
Expansion of programme will deliver vital life skills to 100,000 girls over four years

London, 5 October 2009 – Standard Chartered Bank has committed to a large scale expansion of its Goal programme, aiming to empower 100,000 adolescent girls over the next four years. Goal will bring its combination of sport training and life skills education to five countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The announcement was made yesterday by Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered, at the second meeting of the World Bank Private Sector Gender Leaders Forum. He commented, “Standard Chartered realizes that women are key drivers of economic development in its markets. Goal gives young women in deprived communities the skills and confidence they need to fulfill their full potential and support their families, communities, and economies for years to come.”

The global expansion of Goal will target girls in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Jordan with a training programme including sport, financial literacy, health and hygiene, communication skills and rights. In addition to direct participants, the expansion is expected to reach an estimated 5 million family and community members.

A number of studies have shown a strong return on investment for programmes focused directly on women and girls. In India for example, where Goal began as a pilot in 2006, an estimated $32.6 billion in growth per year is lost due to girls out of school.[1] Further, it’s been shown that when women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families.[2]

Standard Chartered is now in the process of identifying NGO partners with deep local knowledge of their communities to deliver the programme alongside staff volunteers.

At its core, Goal is about transformation and building self-confidence, empowering girls with limited opportunities in the past to create a better future for themselves and for their families. Rakhi, 17, a Goal Champion from Delhi said: “When I joined Goal, I never talked to anyone from the group. My father was against my joining the program, but now his opinions have changed. I am more confident and can talk to anyone without fear. My brother once remarked in front of some guests at home, that Rakhi will definitely achieve something in life. I felt so proud. Someday, I will prove that I am no less than my brothers.”

[1]Plan International, Paying the price: The economic cost of failing to educate girls [2008]
[2]Phil Borges, with foreword by Madeleine Albright, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World [2007]

-Ends-

Notes to editors:


About Goal

Goal is a Standard Chartered Bank community investment initiative which uses sport and life skills education to transform the lives of adolescent girls. The programme empowers disadvantaged girls living in urban settings for personal and economic development, providing knowledge and offering a safe place to play.



Goal covers four core content areas – communication, health and hygiene, rights, and financial literacy – that are delivered along with sport training by NGO partners, each with deep local knowledge of their communities. In India, Standard Chartered works in partnership with the Naz Foundation using netball as the sport component.

Since 2006, Goal has directly reached 500 girls, and touched nearly 25,000 families and community members across two cities in India. The programme plans to expand globally in 2010, reaching 100,000 girls in five countries.

For more information, see www.goal-girls.com



Standard Chartered – leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East


Standard Chartered PLC, listed on both London and Hong Kong stock exchanges, ranks among the top 25 companies in the FTSE-100 by market capitalisation. The London-headquartered Group has operated for over 150 years in some of the world's most dynamic markets, leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its income and profits have more than doubled over the last five years primarily as a result of organic growth.


Standard Chartered aspires to be the best international bank for its customers across its markets. The Group earns around 90 per cent of its income and profits in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, from its Wholesale and Consumer Banking businesses. The Group has over 1600 branches and outlets located in over 70 countries. The extraordinary growth of its markets and businesses creates exciting and challenging international career opportunities.


Leading by example to be the right partner for its stakeholders, the Group is committed to building a sustainable business over the long term and is trusted worldwide for upholding high standards of corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental protection and employee diversity. It employs around 70,000 people, nearly half of whom are women. The Group's employees are of 125 nationalities, of which about 70 are represented in the senior management.

For more information on Standard Chartered, please visit www.standardchartered.com

Friday, September 18, 2009

Delhi Closing Ceremonies


We're so proud of our 150 Goal graduates this year from Delhi!

Aali Gaon and Jaitpur held their ceremonies in June. Geraldine Matchaba and Karuna Bhatia from Standard Chartered in Mumbai were guests of honor. Thr girls showcased dances and Hindi songs, and were addressed by Naz Executive Director Anjali Gopalan who reminded them to take their achievements and think about their own economic independence (always good to think big!).

Two graduates, Nidhi and Lakshmi shared their own stories - and with their certificates (and new shoes) in hand, the girls played a netball match.

Our Deepalaya girls graduated in August, with Sonali and Naureen acting as masters of ceremony. Dances, songs, and netball were also the events of the day, and the girls were honoured to be addressed by Rotarian T.K. Mathew, the founder member of the Deepalaya Board. He spoke about the importance of education for the girl child and taking up issues that target young girls and women. He highlighted how through Goal girls were provided opportunities to develop their personality and excel. He encouraged the students to get involved in Goal and aspire to do better in their lives.



**************************

We would be very remiss here if we didn't take the time to make a very special thank you to Sharon Sethi as well, our outgoing Delhi volunteer coordinator. Sharon has been the heart and soul of Goal in Delhi since day 1, and we can't thank her enough for all she's done.



(Here's Sharon and I in Delhi in January)




Monday, September 14, 2009

Congratulations Mumbai girls!

Congratulations to all the girls from Globe Mills and Hamara Foundation in Mumbai who have completed the Goal programme. The girls were commended in a ceremony on Saturday.

Special thanks to Namrata, Pallavi, Vrushali, and Nayana who have done such an incredible job organising everything as our coaches and Goal Champions in Mumbai. And thanks as well to Standard Chartered staff who were there to applaud our new graduates.

Pictures to follow soon!

Friday, September 4, 2009

New York Times!


My favourite newspaper had an excellent Sunday magazine issue recently on why women's rights are "the cause of our time."

Every article in there was really stellar, especially the lead piece, so it's excellent recommended reading. Mostly it's just nice to see that everyone else in the world is starting to realise the importance of programmes like Goal have not just on women, but on the world.

They also asked for photo submissions - see Goal in the second row, all the way to the right.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Tell Us About Yourself!

It's been a busy summer and promises to be an even busier autumn for Goal. We're getting ready to launch the new programme year in Delhi, Mumbai, and new location Chennai. Over here in London we've been busy with preparations for our international roll-out. Our aim will be to reach 100,000 girls by the end of 2012. More details and locations to come.

We've noticed a bit of new traffic to the site recently (thanks!). Leave a comment below to let us know who you are and how you heard about Goal!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Girl Effect on Development

At the World Economic Forum in January, the Nike Foundation organised a panel, "four years in the making" to discuss the impact of adolescent girls on the world economy. Focusing efforts on girls, argued Nike Inc. CEO Mark Parker, is a proven effective way to "stem the tide of intergenerational poverty.

The full video is available here to watch online. It's long but fascinating, and I highly recommend it.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Catch us tomorrow, Thursday 30 July, on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour from 10-11am UK time (or so we've been told!).

Update: Listen to the story here.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

We're Going Global!


We're very excited to announce that Goal is going to be expanding! We've set an ambitious target and started to lay out a strategy for expansion to additional countries as soon as next year!

We can't say more just yet...but watch this space!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Rain rain go away!


We hear from our Mumbai office that the summer rains have finally come. However, this means things on the Goal front are a bit slow as people just try to stay afloat, literally!

Our closing ceremonies at two small sites in Delhi were just held. Read about it in The Hindu!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

A note from Deepali

It is the proud moment when one of our goal participants Nilofar from Deeplaya School got Scholarship Award of Rs. 10,000 and Richa and me got Rs.31,000 each. It was the biggest achievment for Goal(Naz). However, we are thankful to anjali ma'am and kal who has allowed us to participated in Sr. nationals in Delhi team and looking forward for the same oppurtunities in future.

Here are the pics of Nilofar of recieving cheque from the persons who were distributing cheque...

--
Deepali
Programme Coach - Delhi
Goal- Reaching New Heights

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Congratulations Deepali, Richa, and Nilofar!

Congratulations!

It makes us proud that our coaches Deepali and Richa, and Goal participant Nilofar were awarded scholarships at a recent ceremony.

Nilofar had participated in the 53rd School National games from the 5th to 10th January, 2008 at Dhamtari(Chhattisgarh) as a part of the Delhi team and they has won the tournament playing the final against the team from Uttar Pradesh.

Deepali and Richa have been consistently excelling in Netball!! They both were recognised winning the Gold medal for the Delhi team at the Senior National tournament held in February 2008 at Bawana.

Keep up your good performance and may you continue to have such success in the future too!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Measuring our Impact

By now you've read about the personal, transformational impact Goal has on girls' lives. This year, we are focusing on quantifying that impact - trying to understand exactly what we do and how well we do it.

To that end, we've engaged the Population Council, an organisation responsible for measuring some of the best, most impactful programmes that work with adolescent girls. PopCouncil has worked with the Goal team to create a thorough programme evaluation. Last week, Standard Chartered employee volunteers in Delhi gave their time to be trained by Dr. KG Santhya on data collection, ethics, interview skills, and general research.

The collection of data will begin this month - we can't wait to share our results!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Spotlight: Meet Virendri



Virendri, from Aali Gaon has been part of GOAL programme for the past two years.

When asked about GOAL, Virendri promptly says that it is a platform from where she has recognized herself and her potentials and her community has recognized her.

Belonging to a conservative Hindu family, Virendri had no dreams or aspirations. She spent the whole day doing household chores. She had vision or expectation from her future except for the fact that one day her family would look for a groom and she would be married.

When she joined GOAL, she was part of Prerana’s vocational course where she was pursuing a beautician’s course. She enrolled on to GOAL just because her community leaders asked her to join. However, as time progressed, she got involved and became committed to the program. She started taking initiative in netball and came regularly to all the sessions. She would constantly ask questions. Whenever any girl from the group did not turn up for a session, Virendri would take the initiative to bring her to the court. If there was a difference of opinion among the participants, she would act as the leader, facilitate a discussion and seek to resolve the situation.

As her involvement in GOAL increased she also began to pay attention to her vocational training. She has now been selected to become a ‘GOAL Champion’: to facilitate leadership sessions and teach netball to the new girls in the programme for which she underwent a ‘Train the Trainers’ course. Virendri now regularly conducts netball sessions as well as helps to train new participants on GOAL.

It was a proud moment when Virendri set up her own tailoring centre in October 2008, teaching tailoring to girls from Aali Gaon. She would teach the girls charging them a nominal fee. Virendri got married 2 weeks ago. She will now be moving into a new locality in Delhi and has many plans to implement her learning in her new community.

“Virendri is a success. She is an example to the rest of the community. She now has a career for herself and is confident and determined to convince her family to allow her to make her own choices and decisions. She now has aspirations and is living life on her own terms and conditions!”- Abidi- Community Coordinator, Prerana




Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Spotlight: Meet Rakhi

When I joined the programme, I never talked to anyone from the group - I was shy and my father was against my joining the program. But now his opinions have changed. I am more confident and can talk to anyone without fear. I have also made place for myself at home and stand out among my brothers. My brother once remarked in front of some guests at home, that Rakhi will definitely achieve something in life. I felt so proud.

Rakhi is 19 and dropped out of school after the 6th grade. Her father works as mason. She lives with her parents and her 5 brothers. Rakhi belongs to the ‘Snake Charmer’ community which is considered as low caste. Her family has to face a lot of discrimination and many people in their village avoid talking to them.


Rakhi was introduced to GOAL by Prerana and thought it was a very good opportunity for her to interact with the other girls in the community and share her feelings. When Rakhi heard about the GOAL, she thought this was her opportunity to do something for her family and to dissolve the boundaries of caste within the community.

Initially, her father was totally against the idea and did not want his daughter to play. “He wanted me to make food and learn stitching, which, he said, was more important for girls once they get married. My brother encouraged me. Today, my father has faith in me. Now, I am more confident and can easily communicate with anyone."


When Rakhi joined the programme, she was always under the shadow of other girls. She felt inferior to others because of her lower caste. She was shy and would not participate in group discussions. However, she was a very good listener and also a good player right from the beginning.

Within the 6 months of participating in the GOAL, Rakhi began to shed her inhibitions and took initiative in the sessions. She now confidently leads the other girls and takes active part in all the activities organized by GOAL. She has now been selected to become a ‘GOAL Champion’: to facilitate leadership sessions and teach netball to the new girls in the programme.

Today, she not only has all the other girls of the community as her friends, but also, she has strong position in the Netball team of Aaligaon.

She also dreams of completing her education, getting a job and earning money so that she can help her father. “Someday, I will prove that I am no less than my brothers” she adds with determination on her face.




Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Volunteer Perspective: Emily

Since I began volunteering for the Bank back in February, I have been greatly impressed by the work GOAL is doing for girls in India. Having grown up in an environment in which women have infinite opportunities in life, it is sometimes easy to forget that not all girls around the world are born with the same fate. GOAL, however, is a program that brings adolescent girls in India the tools necessary to live their life with more self confidence and awareness, in hopes that they will then become powerful figures in their community. I am so proud to be apart of an organization that provides education to young women by emphasizing the importance of communication and leadership skills, as well as what it means to be a strong, independent woman within a larger group context. The core skills that are imparted to these girls have proven to be indispensible to both their self growth and social advancement, and it is a project in which I hope to take greater part by volunteering my time in the very near future. The girls of GOAL India are true role models of today!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Shortlisted!


GOAL has been shortlisted for a Beyond Sport award which will recognise exceptional projects that use sport to drive significant social transformation.

Wish us luck!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Spotlight: Meet Mamta

Mamta is a 21 year old girl who dropped out of school after the 8th grade. Her father runs a general store and her mother is a housewife. Mamta dropped out of school because she had met with an accident and developed a back problem.

Until Mamta became a part of GOAL she spent most of her time doing household work and helping her mother. Mamta had completed her tailoring course from the Prerana centre and during her free time she would take orders for stitching blouses and ‘salwar suits’ for the community women and also earn money from it.

She joined GOAL through Prerana, with the hope that, since she no longer went to a formal school, she could learn new things through this programme. As she started playing netball and attending sessions, her interest took a deep root. She became more confident and developed her communication skills. She attended the sessions regularly and most of the time had many questions relating to the sessions. Since she was older than the other girls and also had a natural command over the group and emerged as a leader.

Recognizing her potential, she was selected to become a ‘GOAL Champion’. Mamta has become very confident and can speak on any platform without hesitation. Reflecting on what she learned in the programme Mamta says:
“In GOAL we were given information about different topics including HIV/AIDS. We now know our body and ways of maintaining hygiene and cleanliness, with in and around us. In fact we learnt about a whole lot of issues, which are important for every girl to know. As girls we were never taught to aspire for anything in life, GOAL opened our minds and encouraged us to make the pathways towards achieving our dreams.”
Mamta now aspires to complete her education and also start her own tailoring centre to teach other girls. GOAL helped her recognize her strength in conducting sessions and she seeks GOAL’s support in exploring the possibility of working in a NGO.


Mamta running a GOAL session in Delhi

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Delhi Train the Trainer

A Note from Kalyani (at left), our National Programme Coordinator for GOAL:

A ‘Training of Trainers’ (TOT) program in netball was organised from 24th – 28th March 2009 to enhance the Netball skills of the girls. The Program was organised under grant from the Australian Sports Outreach Program. Ms/ Maureen Hall, a former international player and member of the International Coaching Committee came in as the trainer for the program from Kingston, Jamaica.

Twenty six girls participated in the program. The GOAL coach from Mumbai and one of the participants too attended the training. The Kerala Netball Association, a very newly formed organisation liaised with GOAL. They are seeking assistance in developing netball in Kerala. GOAL the opportunity for 3 girls from Kerala, to participate in this TOT and learn netball skills.

The TOT sessions had theory as well as sessions on the netball court. Besides enhancing their netball skills, Maureen also focused on developing coaching skills in order to help the participants to take their learning forward to other girls of the community. The TOT was immensely enjoyed by the participants. The girls were proud of the learning and all of them received certificates of achievement.

A few photos:

Monday, April 6, 2009

Spotlight: Meet Jyoti


Jyoti has been part of GOAL for the past two years.

When asked about GOAL, Jyoti (with her ever-smiling eyes) replies: "GOAL is fun, it's freedom, and lots and lots of learning."

Jyoti is part of a very conservative family. She dropped out of school due to poor economic conditions and spent most of her time doing household work. She used to attend the vocational centre run by Prerana and when she heard about GOAL, she joined - Jyoti thought this would be a great opportunity for her to do something different to cooking and cleaning.

Initially, she was very aggressive, using abusive language and fighting with all the other girls at the sessions. However, as time progressed, she got more involved with the programme. The sessions on Communication and Dealing with Peer Pressure helped her gradually calm her behaviour. She started taking the initiative during netball games, understanding well the rules and regulations. She didn't miss sessions and mastered the game quickly - she is now considering becoming a community coach.

After completing GOAL, Jyoti was selected to become a GOAL Champion. She participated in the Train the Trainer workshop and this proved to be a turning point for her. She joined the sessions enthusiastically, and her body language and communication skills improved greatly.

Recognising her potential to be a professional netball player, Jyoti was given the opportunity to participate in the selection camp for the senior national netball tournament. She convinced her parents to allow her to attend the camp where she practiced with senior professional players and performed very well.

The camp also taught her valuable social and communication skills relating to the senior players. She has returned to Aali with a passion to impart netball training and leadership skills to a new batch of girls. She aspires to excel in netball and also wants to resume her school studies.

"Jyoti has truly undergone a lot of change, particularly with her new self confidence.She has not only brought about changes in herself but also change in the outlook of her family towards her GOAL participation, she has gained their trust and confidence.Above all, she is a great netball player." Abidi, Community Coordinator, Prerana

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Economic empowerment - first steps

Photo courtesy of Three Hands

One of the things we have been focused on for GOAL this year is adding an economic empowerment component to the programme. After the first year, many girls came out saying "great, I now think I can achieve anything, so I want to be a [nurse/beautician/start my own business]." We've been trying to figure out how best to enable different economic pathways for these young girls, as well as boost our relationship with our local partners, and now we're on the path to get started!

We are about to launch a revolving loan fund as a pilot in Delhi, held by our local partners there Prerana and Deepalaya that our GOAL graduates will be able to access. They can borrow money to achieve personal or group objectives which they'll then pay back.

Excitingly, we already have a few applicants:
- Ambika will learn English so she can train to be an air hostess.
- Neetu will take a course in hotel management
- Shayama will study nursing
- Neelofur will aim for a bachelor in physical education

We'll keep you posted on their progress as we move along!


Monday, March 30, 2009

Population Council to advise on GOAL


We are very happy to announce that the Population Council will be spending the next several months advising on GOAL, our content and measurement and evaluation.

The Population Council, an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations around the world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources.

Their expertise in working with adolescent girls is unparallelled and we are so thrilled to have their partnership.

For more on the Population Council, click here.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Standard Chartered CEO on Women's Empowerment

Standard Chartered's 2008 Sustainability Review goes live today, and features CEO Peter Sands talking about Women's Empowerment and GOAL. Peter Says:
Standard Chartered’s main markets are in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and in these parts of the world many women haven’t been in a position to fulfil their full potential and that has a very broad impact on the way these societies and economies have developed. Women who are economically empowered are an incredibly powerful force of development.

View the videoby clicking here!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Spotlight: Meet Neha

Neha is 19 years old and has been a part of GOAL for the past two years. She is currently undertaking an open university degree as well as training to become a netball coach.

Neha was in her final year at Deepalaya school when GOAL was piloted in 2006. When she heard of GOAL, she immediately wanted to join the program. She was fascinated by the idea of learning a sport simultaneously learning about various topics of well-being. She also wanted to continue her association with her school even after completing her studies.

Initially Neha was quite an introvert and would not mix with the rest of the participants. However, as time progressed and she got more involved with the program, the underlying leadership qualities in her started showing. She started taking initiative on the netball court and attended all the sessions. She would constantly ask questions and was completely involved in the program.

Recognizing her innate potential, Neha was given exposure to a senior national tournament camp where she participated as a volunteer: learning netball skills and interacting with senior players. She made lot of new friends, took initiative to help her fellow players and became extremely popular among the players who came from various parts of the country. As she returned from the camp, Neha recognised a new zeal and began to facilitate netball sessions with her GOAL group at Deepalaya.

In 2008, Neha was selected to become a ‘GOAL Champion’ and took part in a ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop. She was also selected to play netball in the Junior National Tournament as a part of the Delhi team. Her team came second in the tournament and boosted Neha’s confidence immensely.

Neha says:

“I really feel very happy and proud, when people address me as ‘Neha from the GOAL program of Naz Foundation’. It really adds to my sense of identity. I got the opportunity to learn netball and today, I want to pursue my career in physical education, and I attribute this clarity of the choice of career to my exposure through GOAL.”

Neha now regularly conducts netball sessions as well as helps to train the year II participants on GOAL. She also helps facilitate the netball game session for the Standard Chartered Bank volunteers every Friday.

Today she aspires to pursue a course in Physical Education and become a professional coach.