More than 50% of girls fail to enroll in school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12 and 53% of girls in the age group of 5-9 yrs are illiterate.

500 Shakti Books Sold by a Shakti Torchbearer-Nim Kherai (U.K)

To spread awareness and raise funds for any cause requires effort and zeal. The journey of Nim Kerai is very much along the same lines; she is a Shakti Torchbearer who turned every obstacle into a stepping stone.

“The article Stri Shakti in the Rishi Amrit magazine of May 2005 inspired me to participate in the activities of Shakti and take an initiative to further the cause. After reading the article, I felt that women of our society need to wake up and understand their capabilities. My first approach was to translate this article in both English and Gujarati to get it published in my home community magazine. Unfortunately, the prepared articles didn’t even make it past the main committee members, and both men and women were not strong enough to project their views adequately. I provided all materials (translated articles, brochures and books) to give them a full understanding of Stri Shakti and the Shakti project. But I was told that the issues I was presenting do not occur in the U.K., therefore, not of concern to this community. I was utterly shocked. I continued to try to publish the articles. However, after two years, one community gave me the opportunity to distribute Shakti books at a youth festival program, managing to raise about £100. Shakti books were also distributed in a Gujarati School run by this community.

Since then 600 books of Shakti have been distributed through various shops in U.K and £2000 have been raised for education of girls under Shakti project. It is indeed a golden opportunity to be a medium for such a noble cause.

Nim Kerai (UK)