The Story of Geeta and Amrita

Twenty-year-old Geeta and Amrita were born and brought up in Tughlakabad village in Delhi and have been best friends since their school days. Both the girls are full of life and have a thirst for learning more and more. Currently, they are in their second year of graduation in the BA programme from the School of Open Learning, DU.

Amrita has 5 members in her family -- her father, mother and two elder brothers. Her father works in a fiber company and earns Rs.8000-10,000 per month. Her mother is a homemaker and supports Amrita's dream of flying high. One of her bothers works in Vodafone and can make up to 15,000 per month, the other has recently started working and earns up to 8000 per month. Including Amrita's internship stipend, the family income comes up to approximately Rs. 35,000 per month.

Geeta, on the other hand, has 5 siblings: The two eldest sisters are married, one sister works as a teacher, one brother is in school and the other one is working and earns up to Rs. 10,000 per month. Her mother works in an export house and makes Rs.5000/-. Her father passed away due to a heart attack. The total family income, including her internship stipend, is approximately 20,000 per month.

They joined The Naz Foundation (India) Trust in 2015 as participants of the YPI programme. YPI uses sport and life skills education to transform the lives of adolescent girls. They showcased their leadership skills as participants and started interning in Naz India as Community Sports coaches from August 2016.

Naz India gave them a lot of opportunities to make them better and more confident leaders. After 8-10 months of their internship, they were introduced to the programme called the International Award for Young People, which is a Youth Empowerment programme and helps in their holistic development. They both enrolled themselves at the Bronze Level and are keen to do the Silver Level as well.

Under the Skills Section, Geeta and Amrita took up the Beauty and Make-up course for a year from the NGO Sarva Saman in Tughlakabad. They received a Diploma certificate after successfully completing the course.

They got an opportunity to run a beautician centre in the NGO Deepshikha, which is supported by the Church they go to. The church in-charge gave them the space for the centre and also the products initially. The students are charged Rs.150 per month, which is utilised for buying the material required. The course is of six months and teaches basic skills like waxing, threading, etc. They get the certificate which is recognized by other salons. The centre is solely run and managed by Geeta and Amrita, for which they get Rs.1000 each per month. Till now they have trained 25 women, out of which 3 have started working in some salons, 8 have successfully completed the course and the rest are in the process of completing it.

Geeta and Amrita say “Agar hum Naz main nahi hote to kabhi bhi hame Award Programme karne ka mauka nahi milta. Hum bohot khush hain ki hame Award Programme karne ka mauka mila, jisse humne aisi skill seekhi jo hamare paise kamane ka jariya bhi ban sakta hai.” (We are very happy that we are part of Naz India as it gave us an opportunity to be a part of the Award Programme. Through IAYP, we learnt a skill that can be a medium of our earnings too.)

They both said that they have become financially independent as they get Rs. 3500/- as a stipend for interning with Naz India and Rs.1000 from the Beautician Centre. As learnt in Naz India, they know how to manage their money well, they make a budget first and spend and save accordingly.

Both Geeta and Amrita aspire to open a Dance Academy together. They both are very passionate about it and are working hard towards it. They also have a Plan B as they are running a beautician centre of their own. In the near future, they want to expand that too.

Their families are proud of them as they both can take care of their own expenses. Not only this, they also contribute to the daily household expenses if needed. Click here to see some more pictures