Our project is located in Vrindavan of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. For decades, Uttar Pradesh has been one of the most populated provinces in India because of rising population in the state. One of the main reasons for this is early marriage (Though illegal but practiced freely). The society is a patriarchal set up where a boy is an asset and a girl is a liability. Due to the dowry system in the area, a girls family has to pay money and gifts to the boys family at the time of her marriage. The younger the girl, the lesser is the dowry money. Hence the girls become a liability and are married of early to men sometimes much older than them.
Girls (mostly from poor rural families) are married off as young as 12 instead of being sent to school. They are forced into adult roles at an early age, due to lack of guidance and knowledge they bear children almost immediately after that, having no say or control in household matters they end up living in poverty for the rest of their lives.
FFLV aims to change this. They have been operating in the area for the past 32 years. When the HESCF started supporting them they were operating 3 free schools providing free education, meals, transport, medical care and skill training to 1300+ girls. They wanted to increase this number to 3000 girls, as our schools have that capacity but we do not have enough sponsors to admit more girls.
- To give them hope and dignity and prevent child marriage.
- To increase their overall wellbeing and a fair chance in their lives.
- To empower them to break their cycle of poverty and to help them reach their full potential.
