When the lights go out

The new project supporting girl's education seems to be off to a good start. Instead of sitting in office without any lights and hardly any work being done, I utilize my time by visiting the girls, and talking to their families and taking pictures to create a profile of all 12 girls.

The light-out time has also encouraged me to travel around town and see how other programs run by SWAN are operating. Last week, I was lucky to attend a Child Club Network Interaction program that discussed issues on children's rights, working children and child marriage.
                                                                                                                                                             

Vice President of the Child Club Network, Sadhana Kishori,
addresses the participants

The meeting focused on creating better linkages between different Child Clubs in the area, and there was vibrant discussion on using plays, rallies and posters for combating both issues of child labor and early child marriage. Some of the attending members were previously rescued child laborers themselves, and had participated in awareness raising programs in the past. I was extremely ecstatic seeing the motivation of the teenagers in organizing and trying to make a difference in their community. I would not have found out about this if the lights had not gone out in the office, so sometimes things do work out in the end given the harsh circumstances.