To encourage the participation of girls in education, the KGBV hostels house girls at secondary school level. The hostels are dedicated to house girls from backward communities or whose care-givers are either absent or severely constrained and are unable to take care of them. They aim to ensure smooth transition of girls from elementary to secondary and upto class XII wherever possible.
For girls at KGBV Vidurashwatha, a remote village in Gauribidanur night time was a source of perpetual fear and trepidation. Erratic electricity in the area meant and long power outages often left them in a world of darkness.
Apart from hampering their studies the lack of electricity also posed security concerns while accessing the toilets in the hostel compound. One little girl was molested by a stranger in the dark.
In another girls’ hostel at Ammanaghatta Tumkur, surrounded by wilderness, the girls lived in constant fear of a leopard known to prowl at nights and a member of the staff was bitten by a snake.
Recognizing the immense benefit of uninterrupted night-time electricity, as part of our Light for Education program, we installed solar infrastructure to serve as back-up during power outages.
The benefits of this effort were immediately realized. In interaction with the girls they shared their stories of the difference that it had made to them and were all-smiles in doing so. Bringing light (literally) into the lives of these bright eyed girls gave us and our donors a sense of gratitude for all we take for granted in our own lives.