Sital's Blog

On Tuesday 14th September, I hit the grand old age of 40. I’ve been trying to hide those grey hairs but they’ve finally caught up with me!

SO WHEN’S THE BIG PARTY?!

Well there is no big party.

I’ve never really been into having big celebrations for my birthday, so whilst I’ll be catching up with friends and family in the next few days for casual drinks/food, there’s no big party planned.

But whilst I didn’t want a big celebration, I did want to do something significant to mark the milestone.

One of the things I’m passionate about is supporting youth initiatives and have offered my time and expertise to various youth projects in the UK and have volunteered with projects in Africa and South America to help young people advance their careers and realise their potential.

Whilst abroad, I’ve heard many surreal stories from young people in places like Uganda and Colombia (particularly young woman) who have struggled to realise their potential due to their lack of education. The kind of stories which made my heart sink.

So in recent months I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure out if there was something I could do to coincide with my 40th birthday which involved more than just eating, drinking and collecting a load of gifts which I didn’t really need. But instead would allow me to make a contribution in some way.

RHI-RHI’s READING BOOK

Then a few weeks ago whilst staying at my sister’s place, my 7 year old neice Rhianna (“Rhi-Rhi”as I call her), came running into my room at 9am on a Sunday morning to talk to me about a book she’d read. She loves to read and had in fact read a whole book by the time I’d just got out of bed!

As she excitedly told me the story of “Horid Henry’s Holiday” (the book she’s showing in the picture above), it struck me how refreshing it was in today’s hi-tech age to see kids really enjoy reading (instead of playing computer games).

But it also struck me how Rhi-Rhi’s life would be so very different to the girls I’d met in Africa and South America simply because she could read.

If some of those girls had a strong education behind them, their lives would be totally different.

AND THAT’S WHERE THE IDEA OF MY 40TH BIRTHDAY CHALLENGE WAS BORN

The idea being:

To raise funds for a super charity called ‘Room To Read‘

To specifically sponsor their ‘Girls Education Programme‘

To target that help in India where there there are countless young girls like Rhi-Rhi who can’t read

SO WHO ARE ROOM TO READ?

Founded on the principle that “World Change Starts With Educated Children”, Room To Read are a registered charity who do some excellent work to help promote education in developing countries. They work in collaboration with local communities, partner organisations and governments, to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and supports girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

Over the last 10 years Room To Read have built 1200 schools, 10,000 libraries and distributed 7.2 million books to children across Africa, India and South Asia.

AND WHAT’S THE ‘GIRLS EDUCATION PROGRAMME?’

The Girl’s Education Program identifies girls at risk of dropping out of school and ensures that they have the opportunity to complete secondary school. Currently, the majority of participants are ages 7 to 12.

Room To Read’s approach is long-term and holistic. Which means they provide material support (school fees, textbooks, uniforms, school supplies and transportation) as well as a range of supplementary activities (tutoring, life skills training, mentoring and medical check-ups) that contribute to the girls’ educational success.

WHY GIRLS?

Educating girls in the developing world, leads to a number of key benefits:

Well £1,600 will educate one girl for 10 years on the Girl’s Education Programme.

So over the next year I aim to r aise   £16,000 to fund the education of 10 young girls in India over the next 10 years.

It may take less than a year to raise, it may take more. We may smash the £16k target and will aim for more. We’ll see how it goes.

THAT SOUNDS GREAT! HOW CAN I HELP?

1. Please sponsor me

If I could find 16,000 people to give £1 each I’d be delighted!or indeed 16 people to give £1,000!

But please give whatever you can by following this link:

2. Please spread the word

- Please forward a link to this post onto anyone you think would be interesting in donating just £1
- Please cut and paste the following status update or tweet on any social media platforms you’re active on (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc)

“Can you spare £1? Check out Sital’s challenge to educate 10 girls for the next 10 years: http://www.justgiving.com/Sital-Ruparelia”

- Or simply ‘like’ or ‘retweet’ any updates you see from me

3. Send me some ideas for challenges!

As I said, I’m willing to earn the £16k and complete some challenges over the next year.

And whilst I’ve some ideas, I’d love to hear any suggestions you may have for challenges. So please leave your ideas and comments in the comments section below.

Over the next year, I’m sure Rhi-Rhi will continue reading and continue getting excited about her books. But with your help, I hope we can help 10 Indian girls like her get excited about reading. And, who knows, in the process help to transform their lives.

Whether you can help with sponsorship, sending ideas for challenges or simply by sharing this information with others, thank you in advance your assistance and for taking the time to read this – I appreciate it.

Once again:

Here is the link to the Room To Read website

And here’s the link to the Just Giving page to make a contribution