Scholarships for Dalit Girls

As I discussed in an earlier post, there are thousands upon thousands of Dalits in Bangladesh, some would say several million.  Dalit is the term given to the descendants of the formerly so-called Untouchables, the lowest of the Hindu castes.  While the caste system is officially illegal in both India and Bangladesh, and much of its formal problems have been eliminated, Dalits in both countries still face discrimination, and many are caught in an endless web of poverty spun by years of oppression.

Many Dalit girls drop out of school after the 4th grade, at ages 10-12, and many are soon married off while still young teenagers.  Without an education, an undervalued by a society that tends to see poor girls as a burden rather than a treasure, these girls are essentially destined to lives of deep poverty.  It's been the same cycle for hundreds of years and is unlikely to significantly change anytime soon.  Girls drop out, get married, have kids early, their daughters don't get an education, and within 15-20 years an entire new generation is mired in the same poverty.  If girls stayed in school,

 if they had some shot at an education and could be seen as future teachers and nurses and doctors and community leaders rather than burdensome child brides, this cycle could one day be broken. 

That's why I'm so pleased to announce a new program to provide scholarships for Dalit girls.  Partnering with a local NGO, Dhruba, I'm going to fund a pilot program starting in January 2012 to pay for 20 Dalit girls in the Khulna-Jessore area of southwestern Bangladesh to stay in school.  They will meet monthly for inspiration and accountability.  They will have their tuition, uniforms, books and supplies paid for.  Their parents will be taught the value of girls staying in school.  And in their villages we will run info sessions for the hundreds of girls who are interested in being sponsored themselves so that, when we have the money, we can have them join the program as well.  We are setting this program up in areas where large global NGOs such as Compassion and World Vision currently don't have sponsorship programs.  These villages are way off the beaten path, very poor, and really needy.   

The numbers are pretty simple.  For $250 a month, combined with about $80 a month from Dhruba, we'll be able to pay for everything.  About $4000 a year - approximately $200 for each girl - will run the whole thing.  There are surely some unanticipated expenses that will come up, and I'm sure we'll learn a lot in the first year.  Working with Dhruba, a small but hearty group of servants who come from the Dalit background themselves and are well-connected in the Dalit villages, I'm confident that we'll get over the hurdles and many girls will be blessed.  I wish I could do more.  I want one day to help thousands of girls around the world stay in school.  This is a small start, for about $330 a month. 

I'm referring to this program in the first person at this point ("I'm going to fund a pilot program") because at the start I am funding this personally, not with Speak Up funds.  In the future I intend to have one of Speak Up's arms be the funding of education and other resources for girls-at-risk, kind of a globally expanded version of what we are already doing to help the Alingon Home in Bangladesh and to fund thousands of girls to stay in school.  Some of this is pending a Board discussion, most of it is pending funding.  You can be assured that I'll talk about this a lot over the coming years, and will invite many to join me in sponsoring hundreds of these girls.

I've struggled with how to write this, not wanting to make it sound like I'm boasting about some cool thing I'm doing personally, not wanting to give the impression that Speak Up is funding something it's not, but also knowing that in some ways Speak Up and me as the founder are kind of indistinguishable.  But I want people to know about this project because I think that these kind of practical, focused scholarships for girls are so important - they really can change the culture of an entire village area.  I want to talk about this so that others will one day join me.  I want the 20 to become 50 then 100 then...

We are still in the process of determining exactly how Speak Up should be involved in these types of broad scholarship/sponsorship programs.  I don't know what will be the result of these discussions.  But I do know that I intend to fund these 20 girls until they are done with school, I intend to use whatever funds I can get to make it happen more broadly, and my dream for many years (see my earlier post) has been to expand such a program all over the world.  Perhaps rely on small local NGOs to be the implementing partners, and sponsor girls-at-risk in Yemen and North Korea (will they even allow that?) and East Timor and some of the other poorest places on earth.  What could be more fun than that? 

I've toured the Dalit villages a bit, and in a few weeks I'll cruise around the villages again on the back of a motorcycle and meet the 20 girls who we've selected for the program.  It's going to be great.  But I know that what I will also feel is the overwhelming sense of need among the thousands of other girls who will not be sponsored.  There are so many more who could be helped, not just given a handout but given a step up, a chance to get an education and transform their family and then their village and then their broader community. 

20 Dalit girls, ages 10-14 or so, will be our start.  Thousands more will want in.  Want to join the fun?

Comments

[Robyn]

Troy, have you considered contacting GFA (Gospel for Asia)? KP Yohanan was given a vision from the Lord about starting the Bridge of Hope schools, which do exactly what you've described but in addition, teach them about Jesus, feed them 1-2 meals per day and provide some level of medical care. They are almost 100% Dalits. I believe they have schools in Bangladesh - at least, I know they have missionaries there because we support one. It would be well worth your time to check it out. Not only would your money possibly go farther (having an established ministry already in existence - if it is there), but there would be the Christian foundation for the kids. Several families come to the Lord because of the loving witness to their children.

[Troy Anderson]

Hi Robyn - I know a bit about GFA, andI have read one of KPYohanan's books, but I'm a bit out of the loop on what they've been up to the past 10 years.

Since Speak Up is not being run as a Christian ministry, we're not going to fund evangelistic Christian ministries - we could probably use their support rather than vice versa since GFA has the resources! And I want to start in places where there is nothing like what I am talking about, and the Dalit villages where this program will start have no program like this that I know of.

The group that I am supporting - Dhruba - is run by a group of Christians and Hindus, all from Dalit backgrounds themselves. They are running Dhruba out of their heart for their people, not as an evangelistic work for either religion. I'm more comfortable with that sort of partnership. It reflects what I've told our donors who know that I am a Christian but know that I am not running Speak Up as an evangelistic organization. We're trying to serve the poor, and welcome partnership with anyone of goodwill.

That said, I know that some of the best organizations serving the poor in various locations are run by Christians, and I would love to partner with those organizations who understand where I am coming from and want to humbly serve the poor.

Thanks for the lead! Troy