Madurai :
In a society where the girl child is deprived of many facilities, the case of a girl child growing up in a slum is even worse. But for Malar Kodi, a girl from the Melavasal slums of Madurai, it wasn’t a hindrance in fulfilling her dreams. With an Assistant professor position at a Nursing College in Haryana, she has inspired many slum girls with her ”implausible efforts”.
It’s just one success story that has unfolded on the ‘International Day of the Girl Child’, because of the sincere efforts of Vidiyal, an NGO that has been working with children in eight slums around Madurai.
And Malar Kodi’s success story is a motivation to others at the NGO who are struggling to build their own career. “It was indeed tough for me to follow my career. We were financially poor. My father used to work as a shoemaker, whereas my mother worked as a sweeper at a Government Hospital in Madurai,” she said, adding, ”We were three children, including myself, and we couldn’t concentrate on our studies living in a small house in the slums,” said Malar Kodi.
With the help of Vidiyal, she pursued her BSc in Nursing from Nursing College in Madurai. She then went to Andhra Pradesh to work as a nursing tutor. “I had to focus on my career and in 2008, I pursued MSc in Nursing from Bangalore and later after two years, I worked as a lecturer in Shimla. Then, I went to Haryana to work as an Assistant Professor at a Nursing College,” she added.
Today, her parents have shifted from the slums to a rented apartment in Madurai. “It is the determination that helped me to achieve what I wanted to do in my life,” she said.
Like Kodi, the NGO has helped many who joined as volunteers to pursue their career in engineering, medicine and other professional courses. “For us, the girl child is utmost important. It is time we tell the world and the parents who are blessed with a girl child, that they are a beacon of hope,” said Sharmila Jim, project director of Vidiyal.
And on Saturday, the NGO, along with children, celebrated the occasion with an aim to inspire many more girls in future.
Many participated in various activities to commemorate the event. “We organise such events for the girls only to make them happy and inspire them in many ways. All these girls have enormous talent and they have proved it today,” Jim said.
The NGO also has a ‘child resource centre’ at the slum area for the children and a ‘parent’s forum’ wherein they counsel them to bring out the best in their children. “After completing their studies, they chose the career on their own and march ahead in life. We have been guiding them personally and financially as well,” added Jim.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiaitimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / October 12th, 2014