A THREAD OF EMPOWERMENT! 14  year old Meera was born in  a small village of Karnataka,India, to a Devadasi. From a very young age, Meera witnessed the elaborate rituals and performances associated with temple worship. Her mother, Sarala, was a talented dancer and singer, dedicated to the service of the deity in their village temple....

Child rights refer to the fundamental human rights that are applicable to all children, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, or background. These rights are recognized and protected under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which sets out the basic rights of children. Child exploitation is unfortunately...

15-year-old Bina loved school; the mighty wooden benches, the sound of the chalk striking the blackboard, the ring of the bell, and the laughter of her friends. It was a place where she found hope and joy. But on 7th September 2021, when she looked at her school uniform hanging palely on her door, gloom...

Over 3 lakh people in India surrendered their lives to Covid-19. Sadly, many of the deceased were the sole breadwinners in their families.  We collaborated with Kinara Capital’s CSR wing and worked to uplift these families. The team identified families in rural areas of Tamil Nadu who lost hope due to the unprecedented storm that...

Seventeen-year-old Sarita*says “Now I feel just as equal as a boy”.  Sarita’s newfound pride comes from an autorickshaw which she learns driving from. Before her lessons, she wasn’t as chirpy and driven. Belonging to the Devadasi community, she was very vulnerable and often in despair.  “Driving the rickshaw has liberated me. It has given me...

“I was married at the age of 15 after my father passed away”, said an adolescent Renuka from a district in North Karnataka. “I grew up with a lot of dreams in my heart, but after marriage I was not sure if I could fulfil them”, she added. Every year, 1.5 million girls under the...

“This is Charki Bakri and that is Goli Bakri“, says Sunita Devi as she speaks about her goats. “I love them very much”, she adds. Sunita Devi lives in the Mica belt of Jharkhand, where low wages from extreme dependence on Mica collection places families in abject poverty. The result of this is that children...

One of the most tragic outcomes of the pandemic was the loss of livelihood, leaving poor families in a worse situation. Seventeen-year-old Karunya* from the Devadasi community rose against the odds to provide for her family in these trying circumstances. Karunya hails from a community where girls and young women face abuse, discrimination and exploitation....

“I have always been interested in working with fabrics”, said seventeen-year-old Kamala*. Married at the age of 13, Kamala thought she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her dreams.   Things took a turn for the better when she was introduced to the IMAGE  project.      “I expressed to the team that I wanted to...