Share on
Malwani is a densely populated, largely low-income neighbourhood in the suburbs of Mumbai. It is an area that is known for crimes against women and high incidences of violence and drug abuse. Education is not a priority, even less so for the girls who live here.
Jasmine Bala first came to the neighbourhood as a Teach for India Fellow from Brown University to work in a school teaching seventh graders. “I knew they all had tough lives at home, but I saw that they came to school every day,
motivated to make new lives for themselves.”
On her return to the school between the first and second year of her fellowship, she was surprised to find that 26 out of the 41 girls in her classroom had dropped out of school. When she visited their homes, she found that it was the