International Day of the Girl Child

On December 19, 2011, the United Nations declared 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. The theme for 2014 is Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence. 

Awareness is being raised about the importance of education and ending sexual violence and a lot of work is going on. The UN has launched a non-formal education curriculum  to engage young people in efforts to prevent and end violence against girls and women. You can download a handbook here.

In recognition of this day, we are raising money to support girl education. Please write to hemangi[dot]gc[at]gmail[dot]com  for more information. We suggest a donation of $5. 

Here are the donations made till now : 

1. HCI - $5

2. PCI- $5
3. QDY- $10

4. XYZ -$10
5. SHK -$5
6. HEH-$50
7. SCI - $10
8. KVI-$10
9. AKI -$5
10. Group - $65 
11. DKR -$20
12. DMI-$15
13. VSM-$5
Total : $215 

Where is this money going? 
After some thought, a core group decided that money should go to organizations where we have a personal contact so that we know our donations are being put to good use. Vijay Human Services, Chennai, is run by a group member's uncle. Its an NGO that works with mentally handicapped children. They don't have a website and we have started working towards putting one together.

How to donate?
I (Hemangi) am accepting donations at my Bank of America account. I haven't set up payment getways because there are always transfer charges. Since "Donate When You Celebrate" is all about making small donations, paying fees doesn't make sense. However, we can work something out, in the US or in India, if you do not have a Bank of America account. In either case, contact me at hemangi[dot]gc[at]gmail[dot]com.

What is the number 10 donation (Group)?
As a part of this campaign, some of us got together and discussed how to help NGOs in India. This money came from the group in St. Louis. Future posts on the blog will have details about the discussion and what came out of it.

Which other organizations did you consider?
http://www.aaifoundation.org/
http://www.yuwa-india.org/
http://www.careindia.org/