These young women beat big odds

Chennai: At 21, Esakiammmal Esaioli of Ambasamudram has a lot of weight resting on her shoulders. She hopes to someday convince her family to let her younger sister study and work abroad, to stop her mother from stepping into a textile mill to work again. To change the lives of her people, she needs to realise her dream of becoming the panchayat head of her village.
At an event organised by Child Rights and You (CRY) on Friday to observe National Girl Child Day, which fell on January 24, Esakiammal was one among seven young women raised in extreme poverty and amidst stigma, who came out to share her story of impossible personal breakthroughs. Halfway through Class X, Esakiammal had to stop school and join her sister and mother to work in a mill in Tiruppur, after her father left them. She was 16.
They came back a week before her public exams, which she aced. After CRY, under their project HREPC, helped her enrol into a diploma in electronics and engineering, she began working for TVS. Although she’s currently back home and struggling to get a thyroid problem treated, she’s determined to get back on track. “I’ve taken a loan to help my sister study,” says Esakkiammal.
For 22-year-old K Abhinaya of Reddiarpatti in Tirunelveli district, life has always been arduous. She says her father has been working in a grocery shop all his life. “He comes back home at 11pm and wakes up at 5am. I have to ensure he can rest,” she says.
Having completed a BE Computer Science with the help of CRY, she is now teaching at the same college and supports her home and her higher studies. “Through these powerful stories, we want underprivileged girls to know they can dream big,” says director of HREPC project, Bharathan.