For the emigrant community living in Hyderabad’s Borabanda, life is full of struggles and sacrifices. While the members find it hard to earn enough money for feeding their families, their children are deprived of education as they drop out of schools to support their families in any possible way. This grim situation creates a vicious circle because of which these communities are bound to remain at the fringes if not provided external support and care.

Mytrah Foundation, the CSR wing of Mytrah, stepped into the area of education with the vision of providing support to children from marginalized communities who had to drop out of schools and again connect them to the mainstream. However, to achieve this, Mytrah wanted to ensure that they selected the right location based on need assessment.

To carefully select any area, the foundation conducted a thorough research in several potentially education deprived areas of Hyderabad and after a long process it chose to start its work in Borabanda considering its political, economic and social depravity. The area also houses largest population of immigrants living in Hyderabad.  

“The region’s utmost backwardness, both in terms of economy and lifestyle called for a change. Mytrah found out that the girls drop out of secondary school for various reasons, such as poverty, sanitation issues and lack of motivation and awareness,” the organization states.

Having zeroed in on an area and identifying the underlying reasons for the problems that existed there, Mytrah began its intervention by holding discussions with the community members, the parents and also the girls. This was done to make sure that everyone understood the importance of the project and that they were motivated to be a part of it. Mytrah realized that sustainability of the project will only depend upon the faith and trust of these people. Otherwise, there were chances of the girls dropping out of Mytrah’s program too after some time of joining it.

Kala Mytrah

This is what Mytrah named its project and began providing support to 500 drop-out girls to help them qualify the Secondary School Examination. To carry out the project, Mytrah collaborated with various partners like Telangana Open School Society, Mahita (NGO), UNICEF and others.

With the support of Telangana State Government through Telangana Open School Society, Mytrah received necessary supply of curriculum and textbooks. Apart from that UNICEF provided technical support for the project. 

Mytrah makes sure that the girls get a high-class coaching and training in life skills at the same time. They are also taught and made aware of their rights and responsibilities honing them to become informed citizens. 

While running this project, Mytrah also provides support to these communities by providing them sustainable livelihood opportunities too. Under the Kala Mytrah project, it organizes painting exhibitions and invites art enthusiasts to buy these paintings. In the year 2017, these art enthusiasts bought paintings worth Rs 30 lakhs. This money was then given to the community who used it for their betterment.

Implementation and outcome

The foundation has been able to carry out the project in a very cost-effective manner and used 100 percent of its allotted funds for the implementation activities. Other activities related to the project, like regular monitoring and evaluation, was financed by the company using money outside of the CSR funds allocated. 

Mytrah has also used technology to reach out to more students by developing a mobile app which provides them with open school teaching learning material. Over 50,000 students have benefitted from the application so far. The organization is expecting that 400 girls coached by them will clear class 10th examination this year. For a community facing so many hardships, this will serve as a major source of motivation.

If we move beyond numbers and talk to the parents and girls of Borabanda, it would be evident that they are now showing more interest in acquiring education. A lot of these students also use the VidyaMytrah mobile app developed by the company. The implementing partner and NGO associated with Mytrah continuously maintained a contact with Madrasas operating in the region and ensured that they were more receptive towards the idea of educating the girls. Today, these institutions are also coming out in support of this initiative.

Mytrah, with its clear vision, was able to bring together government and non-government agencies on one platform to create an opportunity for these marginalized sections of society and has now given them a chance at succeeding in life. With education and awareness, these girls can play an active role in helping their community.

Impact-Story is a series on development and CSR interventions leading to some impacts on the ground. If you have a project, innovation or intervention that has changed the lives of a few people or a community, please share a brief note at csr@ngobox.org. Our Team will get back to you after validating the information for a detailed coverage.