This GYAAN Center initiative, located in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, is comprised of a girls’ school, library, museum, and a women’s economic development center. Designed by New York-based architect Diana Kellogg, and built by local stone craftsman, Kareem Khan. This project will provide young girls with an education and women with the necessary skills to grow their lives and access opportunities for independent and meaningful work.
This unique program combines education with social enterprise while supporting gender parity and economic growth for women and girls in these rural communities.
Though Rajasthan is the third largest Indian state with a population of 56,507,188 and a male literacy rate of 79.19% it ranks the lowest in female literacy at 52.66%. Further, 80% of Rajasthan’s population lives in rural areas such as Jaisalmer, where female literacy only reaches 32% and women predominantly remain in the home performing domestic duties.
Additionally, Rajasthan has a very high number of child marriages resulting in fewer girls allowed an education and a shockingly high rate of female infanticide contributing to a disproportionate sex ratio favoring men. This vicious cycle of female infanticide, child marriage, and lack of education leads the entire community, especially its women, into a truly disadvantaged life of poverty and lack of opportunity. These statistics provide compelling evidence that girls in the rural Thar Desert region of Jaisalmer face some of the most difficult obstacles to developing literacy, skills, and other educational opportunities in all of India.
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