Tribal girl from MP to study in Oxford

Asha Gond, a 16-years old tribal girl from Janwaar, Madhya Pradesh, will be traveling to UK to study English language in Oxford school. Only the passport formalities are awaited to be completed soon.

Ulrike Reinhard, a German lady, has created a skatepark in Janwaar village of Panna district of MP. She trains the tribal kids in skating and English. Asha was introduced to English language here and had shown brilliant performance in the language. Impressed by her talent and desire to learn, Ulrike promised to send her to UK to learn this language.

Both Ulrike and Asha had a tough time convincing Asha's parents to send her to UK instead of marrying her off at an early age. Girls are often married by their parents once they reach 18 in that particular area of Madhya Pradesh. Her parents were not able to understand the value of learning English in Oxford school, United Kingdom.

Asha is looking forward to study in UK and has decided to give it her best. Her family is completely dependent on farming and took eight months to be convinced enough to let her go abroad to study. The MLA of Panna constituency, Lokendra Pratap Singh and school teacher of Asha, Awadh Bihari, helped her to convince her parents in letting her go to Oxford school for study.

Asha has planned to come back to India after studying and teach kids in Janwaar. She will also try to get a job to support her family. The story of Asha is a ray of hope to many girls across the nation of India who are taken as a burden by their families which is needed to be married off as soon as possible. In a country where educating the girl child is considered a waste of resource, the story of Asha is sure to set an example.