The Event
The first edition of SHE DARES took place on Friday, August 10th, 2018
at Urban Akhara, Gurugram.
All proceeds of this event went to the ‘Second Chance Program’ by Pratham
Education Foundation, which empowers women who have dropped out of the education system due to financial constraints, physical or mental trauma or generally the stigma of being part
of a system that limits women to the home and the hearth. SHE DARES aims at
supporting them to resume their education. Funds raised were approximately INR 400,000.
There were over 200 women and teenaged girls who were a part of this
‘reverse mentoring’ initiative. The event gave an opportunity for them to enjoy Zumba
overcome obstacle courses and get acquainted with their inner fierceness through
self-defense lessons.
Corporate women were from seven sponsors who were associated with the event, Accor Hotels, JW Marriott, Jubilant Foodworks, RBS, Bata, Westin, Le Meridien
Registration
We had invited the participants to come in by 3:30 pm, early birds were offered cool Dryfit Tshirts provided by our sponsor Bata.
The first enthusiastic participants came at 3:15 pm!
Inauguration
In my speech before the event, I explained how my first cliff jump at 12 taught me the best lesson of fearlessness. I told the participants that simply by coming and completing the obstacle course, my aim was to make them feel strong and empowered. I encouraged them to be fearless and not worry about becoming dirty while completing the obstacle course. I ended the speech by talking about Pratham’s Second Chance Program and the fact that I decided to donate funds from the event there because by providing women who have dropped out the chance to complete their 10th board I was empowering women too!
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Self defence training
Osho Kalia, a self-defense trainer taught the group how to respond to situations of risk.
His talk on the mindset to use and moves to practice resonated with the entire group.
We were joined by the local by the local “Durga Shakti” team from Haryana police who
told us about their mobile app and mechanisms to reach out for help
Reverse mentored teams
My sixteen and seventeen-year-old friends who volunteered to support me for SHE DARES lead teams of corporate women.
I was proud to see them embracing their role, leading by example, motivating their teams to push themselves
Obstacle course
The obstacle course was the highlight, generation Z could not get enough of it!
For the corporate women, it looks a “leap of faith” to get onto it, but the Gen Z made sure everyone got through it finally
Team Drills and Zumba
Prize distribution
There were eight prize winners who received dinner coupons from our sponsors
Westin Gurgaon and JW Marriott, Aerocity
In Support of
Pratham's Second Chance program focuses on providing school drop-outs, especially women, another chance at education. Second Chance program aims to support those who could not complete their secondary education. The program focuses on completion of Grade 10, in the hope that this academic certificate would prove useful for the learners and further their opportunities for educational growth and employability. Currently, Pratham has Second Chance centres in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.
Over the years, close to 29,000 students have benefited from Pratham's Second Chance program. The number of students who appeared for the Board examinations till now are 11,134. Overall, the pass percentage of students is 75%.