International Day of the Girl: Meet Shabnam Whose Courage Has Inspired Hundreds of Girls in Her Community to Get an Education
October 09, 2015
No girls in Shabnam’s village in India had ever finished secondary school. The villagers flatly refused to let girls study, believing they didn’t need an education. But Shabnam persisted against her parents’ wishes and the age-old traditions in her community, overcoming enormous odds to achieve her dream. With the support of Room to Read's Girls’ Education Program, Shabnam eventually became one of the first five girls in her village to complete secondary school. Watch how she has taken her dream even further, making her father proud in a way he never thought possible.
Shabnam studying in her room. “Until recently the villagers held that girls should not be educated.”
According to Shabnam’s father, her courage serves as inspiration to hundreds of girls in her community who are now going to school at last — and reaching for their own dreams.
Find out more about Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program.
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