I have been working at Aide et Action for a little over a year. During one of the workshops organized by the association on education, I met a young girl. She came from one of the ilead centres created in India by the association to develop vocational training.

This girl loved to dance, but in the Indian tradition it is frowned upon for girls to dance in public. Instead, they are encouraged to learn domestic chores. The Aide et Action teams she met encouraged her to follow her passion. She has had several opportunities to perfect her art and today she participates in traditional dance shows.

At the workshop I had the opportunity to meet her mother and sister, and they too were able to benefit from this empowerment. They told me that by going to the dance performances they had gained confidence and were no longer afraid to go out late at night and take transport to get there. Something they would never have dared to do before.

In India, education is still reserved for an elite. 80% of Indians, living in rural areas, still struggle on a daily basis to have access to school. I dream of an education system where every Indian child has access to quality education at an affordable price.