Ganga and Jamana: A tale of perseverance

‘What is the use of education?’ ask the people of Ganga and Jamana’s village. The twin sisters live in a conservative village in Ratlam that denies girls basic education because they think that whether educated or not their children will only be able to work as manual labourers.

Furthermore, they hold the belief that when a girl gets educated it becomes difficult to find a groom for her, and her bride price decreases. They feel that education corrupts girls, they might become obstinate and not cooperate with their in-laws or work as daily wage labourers.

Ganga and Jamana are twin sisters. It took six months of mobilisation and talks to convince their parents to agree to send their girls to school and the Nanhi Kali Academic Support Centre. After a lot of consideration, the parents finally agreed, and now Ganga and Jamana are both Nanhi Kalis.

Before Project Nanhi Kali changed their lives, Ganga and Jamana’s farmer parents would migrate frequently, either in search of work or after the harvest season was over. The girls were also taken along as workers. This would severely disrupt their education. After being inducted into the project, the sisters are not only regulars at school but also excel at it.

Ganga and Jamana are extremely good at sports and have won many medals at the zonal level of the Toofaan games. They dream of becoming teachers and helping girls like themselves to break free of patriarchal shackles and other bounds. Their mother is also grateful to the Nanhi Kali team for instilling in them the value of girl child education.