BUILDING CAREER PATH: Muskan Nayak

This story narrates about a 13 years old girl Muskan Nayak of Kedarpalli basti, Bhubaneswar. Muskan is the peer leader and is known to everyone in her community because of the development initiatives she has undertaken. Muskan was regularly attending the life skill training sessions. She used to share her learning among peer group members and school friends. Muskan shares once her close friend in school came and shared with her that her parents are getting ready to get her married. Muskan had learnt about the adverse effects of child marriage and early pregnancy at the Life Skills training program. She immediately informed this to her mother and went to her friend’s house with her mother. Mukan and her mother discussed about the risk factor of early marriage with her friend’s mother and aunty and requested not to think about the marriage of their daughter at such early age. Muskan’s effort was successful and her friend’s marriage was called off. Muskan’s story iterates that the Girls’ Life Skill Education Program is reaching wider communities by which girls are experiencing the effectiveness of the training both directly and indirectly, which makes it more worthwhile.