Puthri Ilakku,
#Vetripadikattu
AHCT marks five years of Project Puthri
Project Puthri, a one-of-a-kind initiative by Avtar Human Capital Trust (AHCT), marked five years of its impact on underprivileged girls, on August 6.
Puthri Ilakku #VetriPadiKattu, powered by flex India, was held in Chennai and attended by the Puthri scholars, mentors, donors, and corporates.
A project that aims to create 10,000
career-intentional girls’ in government & corporation schools across
Chennai and Puducherry, it is India’s first-ever developmental project. Since its
launch five years ago, it has changed the destinies of over 5,000 girls
studying in government and Corporation Schools.
The intervention begins in class 8 and
continues till class 12, shaping their approach towards career, stressing
health, financial literacy, etc. Through role models, mentors, career coaches,
and scholarships, the project facilitates the overall development of the
students enrolled.
The project enables them to envisage their
future as white-collared professionals playing a role in the progress of the country,
and the growth of its GDP.
The celebrations saw corporates, principals
from Puthri outreach schools, Educational Institutes, & Puthri Volunteers participating
in it. Puthri scholars staged a play capturing the essence of career
intentionality and fortitude, and spoke on the importance of education and
emancipation for girls.
Commemorating the impact in the last five
years, the event also marked the inauguration of the Men Impacting Trust and Respect
(MITR) in the government schools. MITR will work with adolescent boys as they
evolve as male allies for women counterparts in their future workplaces.
MITR is for boys studying in classes 9 to 12;
they will be educated on age-appropriate information in capsules under four main
segments ---intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, self-management skills,
and gender sensitivity. The project will be held as a series of workshops and
conversations led by trained mentors and gender experts from the corporate
world.