My name is Radha Godkar and I am the founder of Kanyaa. As they say charity begins at home and my mission was inspired by my parents Dr. Darshan Godkar and Dr. Bijal Dave who not only are excellent physicians but also champions of the underprivileged.... their work depicted on their website Drishti was my inspiration.
While working with my parents on their projects in the USA and India (which is native to our family) I realized that although there was a disparity between the “ haves” and the “ have- not's” there was an even wider disparity between boys and girls in India. Every School/ Hospital / Orphanage I volunteered in India with my parents I saw a distinct disadvantage against girls, something I did not see as much in my home country the USA.
The ratio of girls to boys in India is lower than most of the developed world and a lot of this is by design rather than chance. A starker disparity is seen in schools ( specifically in rural areas) where boys far outnumber girls . I learnt that girls are frequently confined/ restricted to limited tasks like housekeeping and domestic upkeep. A lot of basic amenities like education / hygiene which I grew up with as a birthright was a privilege many girls were not privy to in the places I volunteered my time. So my mission was to reduce / eliminate this disparity to the best of my ability.
Vision Mission
Kanyaa literally means ‘Girl Child’. The theme , the heart, the soul and the goal of my mission is empowerment of the female child in every way possible.
My double digit years ( I am a teenager finally ) were influenced by the work of Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey and just as they both championed female empowerment nationally and internationally , I too thought I should do this within my parents mission .At first I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task at hand but was inspired by the quote from Mahatma Gandhi " In a Gentle way you can Shake the World".
The projects I am currently working on are“Operation Michelle” in a small village called “ Ratadia” in Kutch, India and the second is “Operation Oprah “ where I am dedicating my resources to a Blind School in Mumbai India which specifically caters to education of blind girls.