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SHAKTII

Educate. Empower. Edify.

Project SHAKTII is an after school program to empower girl students from underprivileged backgrounds. We at Shaktii believe in a hands-on learning experience that focuses on delivering a wholesome education to these bright young girls.
SHAKTII was conceived in the year 2015 to create a model for meaningful engagement of students in arena of learning and self-development. SHAKTII made its impact in New City international school and Satish Haware Junior college, Kharghar from 2015 to 2019. We have since 2019 moved to a new location in Kharghar. We had girls attending Shaktii programme from 5 different schools of Kharghar.

We are proud and happy to announce that Shaktii has completed 8 years!

Why Shaktii?

India has an impressive enrolment rate in primary school but the rate drastically reduces especially for girls as they proceed into secondary school.

It is estimated that for every 100 girls that enroll in school in rural India, forty reach grade four, seven reach grade 8, nine reach grade 9, and only one reaches grade 12(source: Infochangeindia.com). Therefore, only 35% of girls reach the upper secondary level of education in India.

These stark statistics show that girls need support to complete their school education.

Our Vision

We at Shaktii, will educate, empower and edify girls from the underprivileged sections of the society of India through a quality holistic after-school programme.

Mission Statements

EDUCATE

Educate holistically through academic support and enrich their social skills, soft skills, life skills and sports.

EMPOWER

Empower girl students from underprivileged society by:
Providing vocational training for those who cannot pursue their studies beyond Std X or XII,
Providing financial support to bright girl students to pursue higher education.

EDIFY

Edify by motivating and guiding girl students to pursue their dreams, and providing a safe and healthy environment for them.




Objectives of Shaktii

01.

Innovation

Create academic programme and implement using innovative teaching techniques, inviting experts, and field visits throughout the academic year.

02.

Mentoring

Provide mentoring for non-academic programmes to develop social skills, soft skills, leadership skills and life skills throughout the academic year.

03.

Vocational Training

Identify girls who are unable to pursue studies beyond Std X or XII and provide and vocational training.

04.

Financial Support

Identify bright girl students and provide financial support to enable them to pursue higher education.

05.

Complete Safety

Ensure emotional and physical safety of each Shaktii student in the classroom and on field trips.

06.

Learning Environment

Provide a healthy learning environment.

07.

Role Models

Mentors to become role models to establish values like integrity, teamwork, punctuality and commitment.

Meet the Founder

The Force Behind Shaktii

Mrs. Vimala Nandakumar - Chairperson & Mentor

Namaste,
I have every reason to be jubilant this year as we start our offline classes after a gap of two years. Online classes are not meant for children because of a variety of challenges faced by the children. The girls of SHAKTII faced many challenges during the two pandemic years. We focused on solutions rather on problems.

We are delighted to say that the online classes combined with celebration of some events at the centre ensured that the girls remained in classes. Mentors from abroad engaged the girls in meaningful learning.
These two years were the most challenging for me as Chairperson of SHAKTII. Co-ordinating with mentors, students, guests, online money transactions for the girls... everything was done online. We conducted competitions and talk shows online. Mentors helped me conduct online classes from wherever they were stationed .
This year's Orientation programme that heralded return to off line classes, was the best in 8 years!

I thank each and every person who helped us in those unusual years and who continue to support us. Team SHAKTII has done a remarkable job. The girls’ efforts deserve to be appreciated.
I look forward to taking SHAKTII to the next level in the coming years.

Our Beginning

Where It All Started

Mrs. Ujjwala Satish Haware - Chairperson of Haware Builders

Hello everyone,

It’s indeed the feeling of pride that Shakti which was born in front of me has grown so beautifully. Still remember my first encounter with Vimlamam for this unique concept. Her passion and dedication has borne the fruit.
The girls are beautifully transformed after joining Shakti into confident and smart young women. My best wishes to Vimla mam her whole team and the all the girls of Shakti.

Current Mentors

Ms. Kalyani Basu

I am Kalyani Basu and I teach Biology and English. These past six years that I have been associated with SHAKTII have been a blessing to me in so many ways. I have learned that I have a lot of inner strength, I have learned to say NO (when needed), I have had great satisfaction in mentoring wonderful young minds, learned to become a little more tech savvy (thanks to the COVID pandemic), and last but not the least started appreciating what I have and what I am getting every day.
I am looking forward to another fruitful year of mentoring as well as learning at SHAKTII.

“Never stop learning because life never stops teaching” - Unknown


Ms. Madhu Rekhan

I am Madhu Rekhan, born and brought up in West Bengal, where I completed my schooling. Then I went on to Pursue my Computer Science Engineering degree from MSRIT BANGALORE and graduated in 1997.
I worked as software executive and then as lecturer in DAV COLLEGE in Haryana. I have taught in Bharti Vidyapeeth diploma college in CBD Belapur for some time. Since last 10 years I have been taking classes till 10th standard from home.
I am happily married to Vivek Rekhan and have a 20 year old son. I love to listen to music and love to cook .


Ms. Prerna Goel

Prerna Goel is a veteran in the financial services industry with multiple years of start-up, Fintech experience from early-stage to scale. She is the co-founder of two start-ups: Clinica Fai- India's first digital eye and face rejuvenation clinic and, Vriksh Impact Partners- a boutique investment and advisory firm focused on plant-based businesses in India.
Prerna has worked in India, Canada, and the UK. She has been recognized for her contributions to banking and payments - she was Electronic Transaction Associations Forty under 40 in 2020. She was a finalist of Women in Payments at the 2021 Paytech awards.
She leads the EMEA chapter of She Loves Data, a not-for-profit organization focusing on creating a world where women co-drive the ongoing tech revolution.
Prerna is an avid hiker and photographer in her spare time and loves spending time with her two dogs, Sir Barksalot Picasso and Lord Wagmore Dali.


Ms. Aparna Muralidharan

I am a Finance Professional who started my career in Audit. I have spent the last 12 years working with non-profit organization mainly in the education and healthcare spaces in New York.
I have stayed close to SHAKTII’s work since its inception. I find watching the girls learn and grow at SHAKTII very rewarding. They come in with inquisitive minds and absorb everything that they learn like sponges. The mentors and students of SHAKTII never fail to inspire me.
This year, I am working with the current batch of girls with their listening skills. I am also responsible for summarizing the year’s events and progress in this document (The Year That Was).


Ms. Aparna Saxena

In 11th grade, I got involved in Maths Club in my school and that’s when I met Vimala Ma’am. She was the teacher who was heading the club. Over the years, I have stayed in touch with her; we have shared a vision to disrupt education so that it was less unidirectional pedagogy, and more self-driven. We have discussed several models for schools and educations institutions to accomplish this. Despite challenges, Vimala ma’am never gave up and. In 2015, she was able to start “Shaktii - an afterschool of underserved girls in Navi Mumbai” where we wanted to focus on developing the confidence of girls in Grade 8 and Grade 9 which are essentially formative years for kids.
I have stayed as a supporter and a mentor for the girls despite being based out of India for a few years now. I enjoy taking sessions on India, environmental awareness for the girls. Without much publicity, Shakti has quietly trudged on to change the lives of over 100 girls in the past 6 years in whichever small way possible.
I know the challenges these girls face within and outside their homes in finding themselves and their voice. This keeps me committed to them. I share what I have learnt in my life, make them aware of why we need to be part of change for creating a better planet, and I also try to help them discover aspects of our country India that they are not aware of. Vimala ma’am has lined up excellent mentors from across the world to support these girls. Now our plan is to take this to the next level. We will be finally actualizing our dream of setting up an academy for self-learning. We are in the scoping phase, and are now lining up champions and core team members. Even if it is a drop in the ocean, we want to change the face of education for young minds and we will persevere on the path. After-all, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step and we have already covered some ground.


Ms. Sweta Mehta

I got opportunity to work at Shakti. I have been in teaching career through out.
In Shakti as a teacher and I would be part of this noble cause of teaching underprivileged girls. I am looking forward to giving back to society with skills I am gifted with and received from society. It would give me immense delight to see these girls reaching places in their lives with my little contribution.


Note from Ms. Vimala Nandakumar

The Need for SHAKTII
  • The quality of schools and, therefore, education vary in urban, semi-urban or rural areas. Among the less-served lot, more importance is assigned to education of boys than girls. This thought prompted the start of SHAKTII in 2015.
    The reason why girls need more support
    In spite of being intelligent and hardworking many of the girls from low-income groups are withdrawn from the school mid-way. In some cases, they are married off before the age of 18. Some of them cannot even afford the school fees. It is against this background that an NGO, viz., “SHAKTII Girl’s Education Trust” was established by me backed by my experience spanning five decades in the field of education as a teacher, coordinator, consultant, and principal in India and abroad. The Trust made a modest beginning by adopting a few girls of standards VIII and IX of a school in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai in July 2015. We conduct an after-school program where the girls are provided, in addition to academic support, training in social and life skills that would contribute to the all-around development of their individual personalities. During these sessions, the students realize that learning is fun and receive some financial support for showing the right attitude towards the program. Work done by girls speak of the limitations of their learning environment at home. The girls at SHAKTII are from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, UP, Haryana , Karnataka and Nepal. The girls are first generation leaners and are at a disadvantage both at home and school. This is why we undertook this journey of conducting an after-school programme.

    After this 8 - year journey this is what we see:
  • - The girls of every batch went out into the world outside, confident of themselves, started to care for themselves, their family and the environment. They learnt to dream and dream big. A couple of girls are on their road to realizing their dreams.
    - The girls are hard-working and want their lives to be better than their mothers’ who are uneducated and had to work hard to educate their daughters.

  • How the experiment has benefited the girls at the centre Working with the girls pose the same challenges every year to us mentors but surely we are also learning to handle these challenges. We have started to have more mentors from abroad on board aided by internet so that the girls get exposed to variety in teaching methods and styles. Technology has brought the world into the classroom. We managed to overcome the effect of pandemic. The schools that the girls came from were of different learning culture and our teaching styles had to be changed. We had to try and bring all of them to a particular standard though the girls were at different levels. We resolved to have the girls attend SHAKTII classes online and not let them lose out on learning. Some of the parents had lost their jobs, the girls shifted to their villages, there were internet issues and many more problems cropped up. The schools conducted online classes only for those who paid the school fees. We managed to help the students financially in order to prevent them from dropping off from schools; we paid their school fees so that they did not miss their online classes. The girls needed face to face interaction. The only relief that we had was that the girls were engaged meaningfully in learning online. The girls had to borrow the mobile phones of their father or mother. We paid for their talk time too. These sessions used to happen in the evenings only after the father or mother returned from work. The SHAKTII programme continued as usual- competitions, events, celebrations of festivals but only virtually. As the restrictions were gradually relaxed, on a couple of occasions the girls were invited to the centre to have face to face interaction.
    On the whole, the experience of mentoring the girls from off line to online and back to offline has been a roller coaster ride not only for the girls but also for us mentors.

Note from Ms. Kalyani Basu

What we do at SHAKTII
  • Though India is a hugely diverse country with many languages and many cultures, the English language has placed itself in an important position amongst all other Indian languages as it is a world language. To become successful in this world, it is necessary to know English. But unfortunately children from underprivileged backgrounds are highly disadvantaged in the matter of learning English as they are not exposed to the English language in a structured way. Lack of understanding of English language has deprived them of gaining knowledge of all the other subjects which they have in their School. There is a need to help these children get a solid base of the English language at least in their formative years (13 to 16 yrs), for them to succeed in their life as they go out in the world. This is what SHAKTII Education Trust is trying to do to help these girls.
    In this age of fast pace where the parents are busy working to make ends meet, no one has ever taught these girls the simple basic skills of developing themselves into decent human beings with strong characters. But in SHAKTII, we help these girls to develop themselves into well developed individuals. Academically we focus on English {reading, writing and spoken}, mathematics and science. To groom them into all-round people, we start developing them by teaching the most basic things like character building, self-improvement, confidence building, developing the right attitude, developing the feeling of responsibility, punctuality, developing relationships and team building and apply them in their day to day lives and become strong confident individuals. This is what we are trying to do at SHAKTII with these girls.
    Developing social skills, empathy towards others, and being able to express gratitude is all part of our SHAKTII program.
    Class activities based on art, be it drawing, sketching or writing stories or poetry, it all helps the children to express themselves in ways they would otherwise feel scared to express. “Circle Time” is another activity that we do wherein we sit in a circle and share our feelings and these activities results in their becoming emotionally strong. Always having their best interest in our minds, we encourage them to work hard to become successful. We bring in inspiring successful people as guest mentors to interact with them, so the girls can get live examples of success. We encourage them to talk, we encourage them to ask questions. We take them on field trips where they enjoy as well as learn. We conduct various competitions and give them awards and rewards. In fact we try to see that these girls learn something new each day. And I am glad to see that the girls themselves have started to realise that they are learning something new every day. They have started enjoying Shaktii classes so much that they do not want to miss even a single day. And that is a big achievement for us mentors.
    We have successfully completed eight years now and we are very proud that we are making a difference in the lives of these girls who otherwise would not have gotten the opportunity to blossom into wonderful personalities. The present as well as all the previous batches girls, all stand out in a crowd and some of them are already on their path of making a successful career of their choice. Shaktii-an after School program is really making a difference in the lives of these girls, this is what I feel after mentoring for seven years. It has been a very enriching experience. When some girl comes happily and declares that she has improved in her studies all because of SHAKTII , it really boosts my morale. All my efforts become worthwhile. And when some ex SHAKTII-ites come to meet and give us credit for all her achievements, it really warms my heart. Vimala Ma'am has been my guiding light and has been helping me to become a good mentor. Personally too she is always there for me. These last seven years I have met so many good Samaritans, some have become good friends and I am in awe of some whom I really adore. I am really grateful for this experience and I am very much looking forward to being a part of Shaktii's next journey.
Making them smarter

ACTIVITIES FOR 2022-23

April 2022
Visit to Karjat Film World
- On April 29th, the SHAKTII mentors and former students went to Karjat, a theme park that celebrates films.
- In Karjat, the girls saw old coins, learnt about Marathi culture and handicraft items.
- They noticed the hard work of people around us, volunteers, employees and many more
- They learnt to make paper as well.
- Thoughts from some girls
Shakuntala - "Today's trip was amazing. I learnt many things today like, how to make paper at home, and I got information about the history of coins. We enjoyed a lot there. Thanks to SHAKTII and Vimala ma'am who selected a few us to go to the field trip to Karjat."
Pooja Lohar - "Thank you ma'am for today's trip. Although the day was sunny, we enjoyed, met new talents and saw many more things. Loved our road trip. Ice cream was the best end of the trip. Even the sunny sun had fun with us"
June 2022
- A big Thank you to our sweetest Jaya Chhetri for initiating the payment of std X fees for Ashura - our rockstar from Golden Horn Life Foundation.
- Manjit of GHLF if presented the gift
- The Rotary Club of District 3142 presented a certificate of appreciation to Ms. Vimala Nandakumar, Chairperson at SHAKTII for SHAKTII’s valuable contributions to girls’ education.
Orientation Week 2022-23 Academic Year
The 2022-23 Academic Year started with a big bang and several exciting events for the new batch of girls.
Guest speakers who lent their time and expertise to SHAKTII for the orientation:
- Lipi Mookherjee graduated from Calcutta University. She worked in Forex broking and Reliance InfoComm for a few years before switching careers. She got certified as a Make Up Artist and hairstylist. She is passionate about this field and continues to learn new techniques.
- Ashwini Kurup is based out of mumbai, India. Her passion is to help Indian heritage artisans and sustain their crafts. She has had the privilege to work with various handloom and handicraft clusters as part of NIFT and Raymond's.
- Caleb Ellis is passionate about serving the underprivileged, and mentoring young people. He has had the privilege to serve and volunteer with different multinational NGO’s like International Justice Mission and Lifesong for Orphans. Caleb has also started a Speciality Cafe in Mumbai called “Vivace”. Vivace is first and foremost a training centre for Orphan kids to come and learn Barista Skills at the highest level. Caleb is certified in “Barista Skills” and “Manual Brewing” from Speciality Coffee Association, the apex international body in the coffee world.
- Dr. Dechhen Lama is a dentist by education and a Fitness Coach by profession. She is certified in Nutrition And Weight Management. Herjourney as a Fitness Coach started in 2016 when she started as a client in a Zumba Studio. Since then she has completed a total of 6 certifications, namely : Zumba Fitness, BollyBeats Fitness, Labooca Fitness, Pilates, Booiaka Fitness and Functional Training.
- Satyendra Singh is M.A. in Economics, P.G.Diploma in Business Management, M.S. in Psychotherapy, C.Ht. in Clinical Hypnotherapy and P.G.Diploma in Psychological Counselling is a practicing Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, Motivational Speaker, Corporate Trainer, Past Life Regression Therapist, Aura Healer, Pain Management Expert and Spiritual Guide with 24 yrs. of experience. He is the Director of Eureka International, Mumbai and is currently based in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai.
- Arvin David works at HSBC Bank. He has been very fond of music since his early age. He has performed at various stage events from the age of 3. He plays multiple instruments like djembe, guitar, keyboard, cajon & kazoo. Connect Music is his brain child; it is a company which strongly believes in delivering music to the people of our society like corporates, NGOs, communities, colleges, etc.
- Dr.Smriti salin is a dentist by profession and specialized in dental implants n smile designing. She has treated more than 800 patients of Dental implants and 500 patients only for smile designing. She is a sports person, national level volleyball player, state level badminton player, 5 year consecutive winner of women's cricket as a captain during college days. She is a marathon runner her morning start @ 5am on road. A trained bharatnatyam and western dancer. She believe that you don’t just go through life; you grow through life
Orientation Week
June 15th
- This year we started our offline admissions and sessions.
- Two days went in interaction with the parents - mostly mothers. Some of the friends from BNI were eager to meet the girls and share their experiences of growing up, losing opportunities and the lessons learnt by them and their kids.
Orientation Week
June 16th
- The girls were taught about Bridal make-up by the beautiful artist Lipi Sengupta Mookherjee
- The make - up went of in stages. Pooja Lohar, one of our students, looked radiant like a bride at the end os the session.
- The day ended with visit by the staff of Veostapine Co. The company has been supporting SHAKTII for the past few years. The company donated Rs. 25,000 under their CSR, Scholarships this year.
Orientation Week
June 17th
- Ashwini Kurup is Director at The Hand Made Store. It is a brand that promotes sustainable lifestyle products, handcrafted by various Indian heritage artisans
- She decided to introduce Madhubani to the girls of SHAKTII
- After a brief introduction to the designs of Madhubani and its various forms Ashwini got the girls to make cards.
Orientation Week
June 18th
- RAASHI VAISHYA - A law graduate working in Nitish Desai Assiciates agreed to visit our centre.
- She had an informal talk with them to share her experience and guidance with the girls.
Orientation Week
June 19th
- The girls completed Madhubani cards that Ashwini Kurup had told them to make.
- They enjoyed the colors and the artistic ways in which they could create the cards.
Orientation Week
June 20th
- The girls got busy with preparations for the Founders Day event
Orientation Week
June 22nd
- This was a session by Caleb Ellis, who had previously given a preview of the content to SHAKTII’s mentors.
- A bus was organised to take the girls to Vivace Cafe. Caleb introduced a game to begin the session.
- The journey of coffee from the berry stage to a cup of aromatic coffee was narrated by him - facts the girls heard for the first time. They also saw a demo of coffee making.
- It was a pleasant surprise to see Roban Gupta - a former SHAKTI-ite working part time at the Cafe.
Orientation Week
June 23rd
- The girls were given a taste of Bollywood beats fitness with Dr. Dechhen Lama.
- Her dance movements were extremely graceful. We could not take our eyes off her expressive eyes!
Orientation Week
June 24th
- SHAKTII alumni eagerly waited for Mr. Satyendra Singh's arrival on Day 9. This is the third time they attended his workshop on "Power of the subconscious mind".
- The current batch of girls were puzzled initially at the topic but soon started enjoying his jokes and responded to his questions
- Samriti beautifully recited a poem on Satyendra Singh Sir.
Orientation Week
June 25th
- Arvin David enthralled the girls with the rhythmic beats of Djembe Drums.
- The girls readily joined him and could play some beats with the drums he brought for them. They sang, played jugal bandi and listened to his renditions.
Orientation Week
June 27th
- Priya Jayasankar got the girls to respond to some difficult questions like what Life is? Or what goes into making it Successful. Eventually, she got them to think about goal setting, which was the topic of the day.
- The highlight of the session was the riddles and brain teasers.
Orientation Week
June 28th
- Team building games are always fun. But Dr Smriti Salin's session was mind blowing.
- Each one of the 5 games introduced to the girls was fun filled and most enjoyable.
Orientation Week
June 29th
- It was World Camera Day, so the topic was " fun with Camera" by Saurab.
- Ankita joined him to speak about the digital world and Harsh spoke on social media.
Orientation Week
June 30th
- 15% of pilot strength in India are women where as it is 5% in the other countries! We, at SHAKTII, were fortunate to have two women pilots of that exclusive group, Nidhi Ahuja and Parul Pande, visit us.
- They brought with them, mouth-watering chocolate walnut fudge - exclusively for Vaishnavi's birthday.
- We also celebrated the girls’ birthdays for the month with the pilots.
Orientation Week
July 1st - Founder's Day
- The grand finale was the 8th Founder's day for SHAKTII
- The current batch introduced themselves for 30 secs using rhyming verses , filmy dialogues , poetry and tried their best.to tell us why they joined SHAKTII.
- The seniors spoke in English and told us what they learnt in SHAKTII.
- Simran Khan of std. IX - won the best 30 secs - (mimicking Amrish Puri to deliver - Ja Simran ja Jile apnji zindagi) for her confidence. Samrithi's introduction was great and her instant poem on SHAKTII earned her plenty of fans. She deserved the first prize in the senior category.
- The SHAKTII dance and vote of thanks were performed by Pooja and Sneha our alumni mentors
- We were thrilled to hear Ms. Manisha Jhamb’s poems - one dedicated to the girls and the other to SHAKTII.
- Anshika gave us more direction on what to focus on. She emphasized on mental health of the girls.
- Netra Shirke ji and Mr. Vinayak Vast simply stole the show with their words of advice
- We were also thankful to Rupali Patole, Sudha Kamath , Jaya chetri and Madhu Vivek Rekhan for their presence.
Raising learners for 2040
July 8th & July 9th
- This weekend was spent by Ms. Vimala Nandakumar and Ms. Kalyani Basu at a conclave called the “Raising Learners of 2040”. The august audience at this event consisted of School Principals ,School Leaders and Thought Leaders and the gallery of exceptionally brilliant speakers included the famous actor, director and activist, Ms.Nandita Das, Dr.Pankaj Jain, Co-Founder & Director Seed2Sapling, Mr.C.P.Vishwnath Co-Founder & CEO KaradiPath, Mr.P.Sainath, Journalist, Author & Founder-People's Archive Of Rural India PARI. Mr.Rajat Kapur, Indian Film Actor & Director and many, many more.
- Ms.Nandita Das was the key-note speaker on day 1. She enthralled us with her wisdom and anecdotes of bringing up her 11yr old son alone.
- She and many other speakers were of the same opinion that learning doesn't happen only in the classroom.
- The importance of music in a child’s upbringing was beautifully rendered and discussed with the members of the Indie-music band Kabir's Cafe. Out of the three band members, one was highly educated who left his high paying job to join a band to pursue his love for music and the other two completed their minimum studies with great difficulty as they were not at all interested in studies. They loved music and that is what they made into their careers.
- Importance of languages was discussed By Mr.P.Sainath, the keynote speaker of the second day of the conclave. PARI, the organisation of the wise Mr.Sainath are doing extraordinary work of reviving the beautiful languages of Avadhi, Maithili etc.
- In the panel discussion with Rajat Kapur (Film actor and Director) the importance of performing arts on the all-round growth of a child, was discussed. It should not be considered as an extra - curricular activity.
- Mr.Anand Neelakantam (Author,Columnist,Screenwriter) discussed how he was a last bencher and always was picked for non-performance in academics turned out to be a celebrated author who penned "Asura"
- Mr. Anand Pendharkar( Ecologist and CEO,SPROUTS Environment Trust) emphasized on tactile education, which he does when he goes on treks with groups of students.
- It was heartening to realize that at SHAKTII, we are already making all the necessary changes that need to be done in the monotonous regular academics that Schools follow. We have music, arts, performing arts along with academics. We counsel the girls and help them become confident individuals. Our aim is their all-round growth.
Free Health Check-up
August 2022
- A free multidisciplinary check- up camp by MGM hospital was conducted for the girls of SHAKTII. Dr. Subhash was the lead doctor who organized and conducted the camp for the girls.
- This was a comprehensive check-up that included dental, eye and gynecological check-ups and offered dietary advice and education for the girls
- At the end of the camp, the girls received a packet of nutrition powder and gift from Fortis Hospital.
Drawing Competition
August 2022
- On the eve of Janmashtami, the girls were given a painting of a flower and another of lord Krishna. They were asked to create their own paintings based on either one of the two samples.
- The girls were given coaching on how to use water colors
- Arunima S, who is a great artist herself judged the competition. Disha won the first prize, while Sandhya won the second prize and Growri came third.
Listening skills
August 2022
- We have been remote-teaching the girls of SHAKTII listening skills in English. These are kids from standards 8 & 9 from low-income backgrounds, who have basic English skills.
- SHAKTII attempts to coach these girls in their academic subjects, but also to instill confidence and the spirit to learn and succeed.
- We played short audio and video clips of famous people speaking. We went through speeches by Kiran Bedi, PV Sindhu, Virat Kohli, Amitabh Bacchan etc
- We had several rounds of identifying the speakers, learning about them and understanding their message together.
- The person who immediately electrified the girls was RM, the leader of the band BTS! They paid attention to what the likes of Greta Thunberg and Serena Williams had to say. But they hung on every word from this global pop-star who sings almost exclusively in Korean. They knew his real name, the names of the other band members and so much more. We bonded over BTS.
Ganesh Making
August 2022
- To celebrate Ganesh Chaturti, the girls made their own Ganesh dolls again this year.
- Rupali Madan, a sculptor does this every year by bringing clay for the girls and also teaches them Ganeshji making. The girls took home their Ganeshjis for the festival.
- The experience taught the girls to understand eco-friendly ways to enjoy one of the biggest festivals of the year
- In addition to the girls, the mentors have also gained experience in making Ganeshji idols
Biology Competition
August 2022
- 8th and 9th class had competitions about their Biology lessons.
- 8th class made a model of Cell and did a presentation in front of 9th class, who judged them.
- 9th class did research about nervous system of plants and made a presentation in front of 8th class, who judged them.
- Siddhi Bhingare was the winner from 8th grade and Anushka Sahoo was the winner from 9th grade.
Mera Bharat
August 2022
- Aparna Saxena started her class on Mera Bharat by asking the girls to research about Mahabharat and write a note about it
- Hansika who is one of the most sincere SHAKTII girls, won the prize for her research and write up.
A Date with Dinosaurs
- The girls were provided with workbooks, little dinosaur replicas and other tools to become paleontologists for the day
- They learnt the names of different dinosaurs, the era when they lived, how they became extinct etc. Each team was assigned a Dinosaur and given the toy so that they could register the features of the animals.
- The girls were given time to use all the tools and make a presentation on the dinosaur assigned to them.
- It was wonderful to see how they combined the knowledge that they had gained with their imagination to put together presentations for the rest of the class.
Dance Competition
September 2022
- On the 29th of September we conducted a dance competition "Dancing Stars" for the girls. The theme of the competition was "Festive or Rainy".
- 17 out of 24 girls took part with full enthusiasm.
- Our esteemed judges were Praveena Gowthaman, a renowned Carnatic vocalist and Veena player, Lipi Sengupta, a makeup artist & beauty expert and lastly our own ex-SHAKTII-ite Mansi Waghela.
- The girls, dressed in bright colors, and looking beautiful danced to the tunes of barso re megha....mahi ve...and many more songs, all according to the theme.
- The first prize was clearly won by Simran Khan of 9th std and there was a tie for the second prize between Hansika Thakur and Prerna Mansare, both of 8th std.
Spell Well Competition
September 2022
- In late September, we conducted a spelling competition for the girls called “Spell well”.
- After months of this practice, the girls had learnt more than 150 words by this time.
- The winner was Gayatri Karat. She was asked spell "mortified", explain the meaning of the word, and use it in a sentence. She created a sentence to use the word: I was trying to find the meaning of the word "mortified".
Career Exposition
September 2022
- Career Expo 2022 organized by Eco-CSR & Growth Center were attended by the SHAKTII girls at New City International School in Kharghar.
- The girls were exposed to different kinds of careers and opportunities through this visit.
- Ms. Geeta Castelino of Eco-CSR was a gracious host to the girls at the expo.
End of First term – Rangoli and Garbha
October 2022
- 7th October was the last day of first term before we went for our Diwali break. We decided to have a Rangoli Competition "Rang Diya" and Garbha dance on that day.
- We had invited Sudha Barshikar, an artist par excellence and Aseem Gokarna, an entrepreneur in landscaping to be our judges.
- Roshni and Ankita won the first prize and Simran and Khushi won the second prize.
- The next hour was enjoyed by everyone doing Garbha
- The girls wanted to listen to Vimala maam sing and she obliged us all with a song
- We wished Happy Diwali to everyone and dispersed promising to meet on 31st October with more enthusiasm and energy for our next term.
Stories and Artwork
November 2022
- A unique session for the girls on storytelling with ar was conducted by Ms. Shivani Singh (1994 batch of AEJC ) and her friend Pramila
- Shivani started the session by telling stories from the epic Ramayana; stories of Jatayu and his brother Sampati.
- The girls learnt that GRATITUDE is an important virtue to add to our character.
- Shivani and Pramila also did a small exercise with the girls of how we remain small if we just crouch in our own place and how we can grow if we open our minds just like Jatayu and Sampati when they spread open their huge wings.
Visit to other schools
October & November 2022
- Rivershide School - Ahmedabad - We visited Riverside School in Ahmedabad. It was buzzing with happy children, who were going about their individual classes and combined classes. We saw happy teachers, and children who are friendly with all their teachers, including Kiran Bir Sethi ,the head of the School.
- Jeevan Jyoti Ashalaya - Navi Mumbai - Ms. Vimala and Ms. Kalyani had the opportunity to visit an NGO called Jeevan Jyoti Ashalaya. It is an orphanage which houses 24 boys and girls from the age of 4 to 15, along with a few ladies who are the caretakers of these kids. This trip was a part of our mission to help another NGO and to explore opportunities to start NIOS at Shaktii.
- Avasara Academy - Pune - On Monday the 21st of November, Ms. Vimala and Ms. Kalyani visited Avasara Academy in Pune. The visit showed us where we need to reach in order to start a full-fledged academy. The hard work and dedication of all the staff and support staff was visible in every nook and corner of the campus. We came back with a lot of contentment and determination in our minds that we are on the right path in thinking of changing the after school program to an academy. We are sure that we can make a bigger impact with our academy.
Children's Day Celebration'
14th November 2022
- This year on Children's Day [2022] we mentors, along with our girls had a blast.
- The girls came wearing Shaktii T-shirts looking stunningly smart.
- There was a surprise Magic Show by Yogesh Sonawane
- We had arranged delicious, filling snacks meticulously planned by Shezin for everyone and all of us enjoyed it happily.
- We saw four dance groups dancing to the tunes of latest Bollywood songs choreographed by themselves and it was a proud moment for us to see them all dance in such rhythm and coordination
Mera Bharath Mahaan - Competition
25th November 2022
- We hosted "Mera Bharat Mahaan", a competition. The girls were divided into 6 groups and had to talk about the following Indian states: Uttrakhand, West Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra.
- We had three judges, Ms. Shubhangi Hinge, Ms. Arunima and Ms. Prerna Goel
- Uttarakhand Team (Anushka, Vaishnavi and Sneha) was selected as the best team by Prerna.
Poetry & Art
December 2022
- Saurabh Anand, a Phd student in Georgia University in USA was introduced to Shaktii through Ms.Usree Bhattacharya who is a Professor at the same university, three years back. Since then every year Saurabh has been conducting a creative writing/art session on December 10th, in memory of the birth anniversary of his Nani Ma
- This year too, Dec 10th was brought alive by beautiful recitations of self - written poems about Nani/Dadi Ma by the 8th std girls and self -written stories about their Nani/Dadi Ma by the 9th std girls. Saurabh and his Aunt listened to them with great interest .
- We had another very exhilarating program - playing the Djembe drums. This program was conducted by Connect Music. Arvin, Joe and Shidu. and a few others in their group
- We also learnt a few African songs along with it.
We Are The World Competition
20th December 2022
- An exciting competition was planned for 20th Dec - " We are the World".
- We wove a story around which they could enjoy learning about the world they live in. To add to the excitement they also learnt to sing Micheal Jackson's song "We are the world" (and song about Rudolph the reindeer.)
- An amazing day was spent on 20th Dec with three former teachers of Atomic Energy School- Mrs. Sequiera , Mrs. Sebastian and Mrs. Fotedar. The success of the event was due to the efforts put in by all the girls and support that came from Kalyani Basu and Vijaya Ghatargi
- We would like to thank Madhu Vivek Rekhan for joining, Tennis Mathew for sending snack boxes of Ugren. The star of the evening who worked behind the screen was Hemanth Chandak. He taught the girls typing skills, to make PPTs and saw all the 7 presentations patiently gave valuable feedback (which the winning team used effectively).
A creative writing workshop at Shaktii
January 2023
- Dr. Nagda conducted a creative writing workshop for the girls and was very impressed by her interactions with them.
Visit to We Kids Radio
January 2023
- Shaktii girls visited a Radio Station called "We Kids Radio" in Bandra run by Shantanu and his team
- Shantanu had invited the celebrity RJ of All India Radio, RJ Maya and RAP musician RJ Zen.
- The girls went live on Radio in pairs
- The lovely day which was full of excitement and learning came to an end with all of us dancing to the tunes of peppy songs on Radio and a live RAP performance by RJ Zen
Spoken English Test
January 2023
- On 13th Jan and 20th Jan, we conducted a spoken English test for the girls.
- The test was conducted by Prerna Goel via a zoom call
- Each girl was given a hypothetical job that they were applying to and they were interviewed for the job. They were asked 5 questions each- ranging from why they wanted to the job, to what it takes to do that job well and given a score of out 5 per question
- The highest scorers were Deepali and Sneha. Deepali eloquently described what a lawyer does and why she wanted to be one while Sneha did a fantastic job talking about why she should be hired for the role of a police officer.
Reading Books
January 2023
- Niranjan Navalgund ( from Belagavi) started book reading sessions with the girls on Mondays.
- he asked all the girls to draw something that was related to the story they were reading -fantastic and innovative ways to get them to start reading books
National Girl Child Day
January 2023
- January 24th was National Girl Child Day. To celebrate this, we had a poster making competition for SHAKTII girls.
- They chose their own motivating phrase about the girl child to make the poster with doodling art.
- Arunima S , a well wisher of SHAKTII and an accomplished artist herself took the task of judging the competition.
Budding Scientists Competition
January 2023
- This was a competition we held to make our girls aware of our environment, ecosystem and the human effect on our planet
- To ensure that all three parts of Science are covered we chose the topic "Global Warming & Renewable Energy"
- The competition was judged by all three Science mentors and we all agreed that each of the girls worked very hard on their presentation and the best part was they learned so many new things.
- We chose Simran and Gayatri as our Budding Scientists.
Maths Wizard Competition
January 2023
- The final round of selecting a girl for "Maths Wizard " competition was conducted.
- The final round did not have four choices for each question. This meant that the girls really needed to think and arrive at the correct answers. They got exposed to new numbers like - Polite Numbers, Smith Numbers and Perfect Numbers. They quickly learnt to identify these using the definitions.
- Sneha Thakur was the real Math wizard among them!
Fun with Science
February 2023
- The girls enjoyed nearly two hours of Fun with Science by Dr A Arun Bhagwat sir. He would give scientific explanation for each experiment.
- For the first time they learnt about Persistence of vision, Centrifugal force, Surface tension and Centre of mass.
Scholarship Announcements
February 2023
- Sponsored by the family of Aparna Saxena (current mentor): Mr. Mahesh Chandra Saxena, beloved father of Aparna was a true feminist who believed in equality in all areas and a champion of science and education in STEM as a scientist himself.
- Aparna and her family will sponsor partial/full tuition for girls who pursue higher education in science, engineering, or related subjects during their graduation till completion. We hope this continues his legacy and will support more participation in this sector
- Sponsored by the family of Prerna Goel (current mentor): The scholarship is being awarded by Prerna maam along with her mother and her sister Dr. Shubra. This is in the loving memory of their grandparents Prof Pranveer Gupta and Mrs.Raj Gupta.
Linen anniversary
SHAKTII’s 8th Annual Day
- It was a different Sunday to wake up to.
Everything was planned meticulously. Linen gifts for the chief guests, Bouquets for the incoming trustees, snack boxes for the girls, sweets for the guests
- All the girls were ready with their roles practiced to perfection. Hansika took the stage as Master of Ceremonies.
- The girls came brimming with confidence to speak of their favorite activity/competition for 60 secs each. It was a competition and the judges Ms. Sudha Kamat and Ms. Manisha Jhamb had a tough time deciding the winner. The girls spoke about the competitions which were conducted during the current academic year, including Mera Bharat Mahan and The World is in my Pocket. The girls performed group and solo dances with ease and elan. Some spoke about Date with coffee and others about Date with Dinosaurs or the Children’s days programme or tour of SHAKTII Centre.
- They sang and danced to the tune of Una Paloma Blanca, Country Road and the SHAKTII Theme song composed by Ms Charu Joshi Trivedi and to the poetry written by Manisha Jhamb.
- They spoke with confidence and without hesitation. Credit should be given to Aparna Muralidharan from New York and Prerna Goel from London for giving them training in spoken English. The girls were given plenty of guidance in reading. The credit goes to Mr Niranjan Navalg und from Belgavi.
- We thank Ms. Netra Shirke -chairperson of Swachha Bharat Abhiyan, Ms.Ujjwala Haware , Chairperson of Haware Builders and Ms. Neelu Lamba, Principal, Hiranandani School, Thane for gracing the occasion as the chief guests .
- The presence of Ms. Lakshmi Ravindran and Mr. Ashish Ghelot , our new trustees , added more value to the function.
- Mr. Alok Jhamb and Ms Manisha Jhamb were present to reinforce their support.
- Note from Mrs. Vimala "For me it was an emotionally charged morning being surrounded by a galaxy of stars. Our mission at SHAKTII has only become stronger with more and more people joining the SHAKTII Movement. Our next step is to establish SHAKTII Academy. With such pillars of support, we are optimistic that it has already started happening."

SHAKTII Alumni gallery

What our students have to say

Pooja Lohar (2015-16 alum)

Recently featured on the cover page of the magazine of the Fashion School in Vashi.
  • Hi everyone, this is Pooja Lohar former shaktii-ite from back in 2015, when I was in 8th std at that time. I was a dumb girl who didn't even know the meaning of was or is and when SHAKTII came to our school it has changed my life inside out. SHAKTII has brought out the power within us. It has always supported us and our goals in every way. Today in 2021 December , I am still part of SHAKTII even now Vimala ma'am supports me and always keeps motivating me and I know one day I'm going to make Vimala ma'am and my family proud.

Pranchal Sharma (2015-16 alum)

Studying to complete MBBS
  • She credits SHAKTII and Vimla ma’am for giving her the confidence to pursue her dreams. Her message to the current students is to believe in themselves. She asks them not to worry about societal pressure and judgement. “All the best, and believe in yourself. Your hard work will always pay off”, she said in a video message to them.

Vimla Choudhary (2017-2018 alum)

Wants to become a doctor
  • Vimla wants to become the best doctor in the city. She wants to do this to help people, and not for the money. She mentioned that she was not clear about her dreams when she started with SHAKTII. After her two years with SHAKTII, she developed her personality and the dream to become a doctor. She is grateful to SHAKTII and all the mentors for their support.

Sneha Pankaj Pandya (2017-2018 alum)

74.2% in X Board Results
  • Sneha believes that her score is because of all that SHAKTII has taught her. She did not have any additional support, and achieved this score based on her school work and the training at SHAKTII. Her favorite part is that she has made her parents proud. She wants to be an air-hostess and will work hard towards meeting her goals.


Video Gallery

To see what is happening every day at Shaktii pls visit our Facebook page:
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Plans Ahead

Shaktii as an institution is in its transition phase now as we embark upon a bigger vision in the near future. We desire to evolve organically to a full fledged academy for these under-served girls

IMPACT STORIES...

  • Hello Ma'am, it's me Pranchal from New City Internaltional School.
    I just got admission in MBBS in Himachal. I want to thank you for supporting me.
    Thanks for believing in me. You are the best mentor!

    — Pranchal Sharma

  • Thank you Shaktii for not taking fees from us, infact giving us scholarships plus certificates. Thank you Shaktii for teaching Art, vocabulary, quiz games, technical maths, knowledgeable activities etc. and for taking us to visit many places Manibhavan, Byculla zoo, kidzania.
    Thank you Vimala Ma'am and all Shaktii mentors for staring Shaktii classes for girls. I am glad to be a part of it.

    — Aarati Chavan

  • Shaktii helped us in Std. X by increasing our English vocabulary and help us by solving our doubts.
    Mentors have taught us how to treat people even in bad times.
    They helped us in Std XI too by solving our Maths doubts.
    They made sure all girls were treated equally.

    — Adwita Kotian

  • Shaktii helped me in improving my English. Shaktii also helped me in studies, singing, arts etc. We also have leart Geography of the world.
    At Shaktii, all the mentors are very friendly and they helped me in may activities.
    I will always be grateful to Shaktii as it has improved by personality. "Shaktii is best!"

    — Raveena Lohar

  • Pranchal
  • Aarati
  • Adwita
  • Raveena


Speakers/ Mentors

What our speakers/ mentors have to say

Guest Speaker
Mr. Satyendra Singh

  • I feel blessed to have trained around 30 girls at Shaktii on the said date. The girls are very ambitious, highly motivated and go getters. I found, they were very brilliant, hard-working, full of life and very enthusiastic to pursue their well-defined ambitious goals.

Guest Speaker
Ms. Saytashree

  • It is a joy to present ideas to the girls at Shaktii, to witness their eagerness to absorb new information and to share their thoughts. The students of Shaktii are intelligent, sensitive and bright and under Ms. Nandakumar`s dedicated guidance and care plus the support of mentors including Ms. Basu, they are undoubtedly on their way to realising their latent potential.

Help us make a difference

We are entering the ninth year with gratitude for the support we get. We hope to provide better infrastructure in the coming years, with more goals to achieve we move ahead to help the girls realize their dreams. We know you are with us in this incredible journey!

Donations for the following are welcome:
1) Scholarship - Rs 10,000 per girl
2) Field Trip(s) - Rs 20,000 per trip
3) Stationery - Rs 500 per girl
4) Transportation - Rs 20,000 per month
5) Birthday Celebrations - Rs 500 per girl
6) Prizes for Competitions - Rs 500
7) Art Class - Rs 2,500 per year
8) Corpus Fund - Min Rs.10000
9) Student of the Year - Rs. 5000
10) Laptop - Rs. 28000
11) Sponsoring of former students' education

Donations to Shaktii Girl's Education Trust are exempt from Income Tax U/S 80G of the Income Tax Act 1961 vide Certificate No.CIT(E)/80G/1695 (2015-16)/(2016-17) dated 21st December 2016.
Write to us at following email addresses for further information:
shaktiigirls@gmail.com, vimalanandakumar4@gmail.com, lakshmiravindran@gmail.com

Shaktii Girl's Education Trust does not have any other branch