Meet Rohida Pathan

Rohida Pathan, a 21 year old Goal participant is doing her traineeship as a computer teacher at the Goal site of Abhinav Gyan Mandir, Mankhurd.

Rohida has been living at the Goal site of Asha Sadan, a home for girls and women in distress, for the last 6 years. When Goal was launched at Asha Sadan in 2009, Rohida lacked confidence and was not too enthusiastic, but gradually became motivated when she saw the girls enjoying netball and listening to them talk about the life skill sessions.

Rohida graduated from the Goal programme in 2010. In 2011 she underwent the skills assessment conducted by Standard Chartered Bank which gave her feedback that she needed to work on her English speaking and writing skills. Rohida worked hard to improve her skills and in 2011, was selected to undergo a Computer course as a part of a sponsorship from the Transaction Convenience Team of Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai.

In July 2012 on completion of the course, Rohida was placed on a traineeship at the Goal site of Abhinav Gyan Mandir where she teaches computer basics to the students.

Graduating from Goal and pursuing the computer skills has changed Rohida's life considerably. Along with the computer teaching, Rohida is pursuing her 12th grade from Sir Eli Kaduri College in Mumbai. Rohida said

"Goal has taught me about the importance of about savings and budgeting and becoming financially independent. I got the inspiration to study further from my training position. Now I want to do pursue my graduation and further enhance my computer skills"

Meet latest Goal champion, Raoyao Li

Raoyao Li, 16, is in her second year at the Yuzhong Vocational Training School, specializing in nursing. She excelled amongst her peers to become one of the Goal Champions, after completing the Go Youth! curriculum.

“I like the Financial Literacy module in particular and it is having a great impact on me. I used to be casual with money but after finishing the course, I realized that I should manage my money rationally and shouldn’t spend money on unnecessary items. Once, when accompanying a friend for groceries, I saw a beautiful bracelet that I wanted so much. Then I remembered the session about ‘Needs and Wants’ and  decided to save the money for future.”

Raoyao was selected to become a Goal champion along with 26 other girls. The girls first started sharing their knowledge and experience to their peers in September 2012, after receiving training and ongoing mentoring. Raoyao talked about how she felt proud of herself for becoming a Goal Champion. She said how she is determined “to help others, just as I once was offered help through the Goal Programme.”

The fun way to learn about saving money

Our programme in Zambia is already proving popular! In less than a year, we have over 1,000 Goal girls from 40 different schools keen to learn life skills and play football.

We're bringing our financial education to life for our Goal girls by giving them a tour of the Bank's biggest branches in Zambia. Staff from the Bank are volunteering their time to take the girls around the branches.

By then end of this month, 500 Goal girls would have been taught how to go to a bank and why it's important to save money.  

Have a look at the photos from the tour.