Following My Passion
Payal, India
The Young People's Initiative (YPI) programme is a life skills and sports (netball) programme for adolescent girls and young women which is implemented by Maitrayana (Maitrayana Charity Foundation). The YPI focuses on girls’ and women's leadership, participation, safeguarding, and creates ecosystems in which girls and women can exercise their rights. The YPI programme was implemented by Naz Foundation from 2006 - 2020. Over the past 15 years the programme has reached more than 130,000 girls across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
My name is Payal, I am 19 years old and I am from Aali in South Delhi. I am working full time with a call centre company in Delhi. I joined The Naz Foundation back in 8th grade and there I was introduced to netball. I really liked the game and since then I have been playing netball, and established a club in the Aali community for young women.
It has been almost seven years since I started playing netball. In recent years, sports have become a way to help women in India. The growing participation of women in sports nationally, and globally, means sport is being seen as a means of empowerment for women. Their participation in sporting activities enables them to live a life of dignity. The main barrier that I faced was about acceptance from people in my community for a woman to be playing sports. My family was always questioning why I played netball. I followed my passion despite these challenges and made my family proud when I won trophies in Zonal and Inter-zonal competitions - school level netball tournaments organised by the Education Department of Delhi.
What did you try to capture with the photos? Was there a wider meaning?
The photos are from Aali in the South Delhi area of New Delhi. I showed girls from the Aali neighbourhood. There are about 12 or 13 girls playing netball in a community ground. Parents come along with their daughters to ensure their safety. Every girl has her own story to tell. The challenges in their lives are similar but the situation varies. We see in our families and villages that when girls turn 18 years of age, they usually get married. In the society where we live they become very isolated. Families invest in boys, not girls. They pretty much train girls to be wives and mothers.
To start acknowledging issues, project Awaaz came into existence through which we advocated for basic women rights like structural inequalities, safety, and cleanliness in washrooms. "Awaaz" is a child-led advocacy project. The objective is to empower children through taking up the role of change makers. It also aims to enable children to advocate for issues regarding child protection. It is important for them to be change makers through campaigns and actions.
The photos show the reality of our community and what facilities are available to young women to play sports. They show some of the work we do on advocating for issues regarding child protection, which was important for many people in our community and we succeeded in securing new areas for girls to play. We are now also building leadership opportunities to encourage and ensure girls are supported enough to advocate for their needs in the community.
What is your favourite photograph? Why?
There is a photo where the police can be seen visiting the community hall ground where girls play. Ground safety measures are our utmost priority, as we can only concentrate on sport when we feel safe. The space was poorly maintained, part of it had become a dump, and domestic animals used to defecate there as there were no gates and the hall had a broken wall. Through project Awaaz, we were able to address these issues and I really liked that the authorities were supportive enough to make the changes we needed.
What role does netball play in your community and Indian society? Is netball an inclusive sport that anyone can play?
Netball is an inclusive sport that anyone can play, the rules of the game makes it very easy for anyone to get involved. Sport can help girls and women by improving their health and well-being. It can also build their self-esteem and make them feel empowered, facilitating social inclusion and integration. In India, sport is also important as it challenges gender stereotypes, and creates chances for leadership and accomplishment amongst women.
What are the benefits of women and girls playing sports in your community and in India?
Girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem. Boys who participate in sports are taught that being "excellent at a position" is a result of having the will to succeed and practising the fundamental skills necessary for that position. They also learn that in order to become proficient at a position, you must play it.
As a result, men often grow up believing that they can do everything they set their minds to. Men applying for occupations for which we may believe they are under-qualified is not due to inflated egos or chance. It is just that they have been conditioned to believe that they "can" take on a new project and learn by doing.
Women, on the other hand, often think that in addition to being certain that they can handle the demands of a new role, they need certification, classroom learning, degrees, or anything concrete that indicates "I am competent." If they have not played sports, they do not have as much experience with the trial-and-error approach of acquiring new abilities and positions as their male counterparts, and they are less likely to be as confident about attempting anything new.
What impact has the YPI program had on you and your community?
The YPI programme helps young girls challenge the prevailing inequality in society through team sports and education. It helps hundreds of girls improve their leadership and teamwork skills and helps them to make their own decisions regarding their body, health and lives. It enhances their mental and physical well-being. The programme offers netball and life skills education sessions at least twice a week which focus on the promotion of self-confidence, communication skills, health and hygiene, and financial literacy.
What does netball mean to you?
Netball helps children and youth build up their self-esteem and interpersonal skills. It is an important way of attaining both physical and mental fitness. Designing development programmes based on sports can be a very effective tool as it promotes participation, inclusion, acceptance of rules, human values and respect for other teammates which leads to the holistic development of children.
What ambitions do you have for the future? What do you think the future looks like for sport in your community and country? What do you want to change? How would you improve gender equality?
I want to become a sports coach or sports teacher. I want to see progress towards gender equality in terms of participation in sports activities.
There are many ways in which sport can help promote broader gender equality objectives, such as women’s rights and greater empowerment of women. Sport can give women and girls access to public spaces where they can gather, develop new skills together, gain support from others and enjoy freedom of expression and movement. It can promote education, communication, negotiation skills and leadership, all of which are essential for women’s empowerment. I also want to see more work being done with parents and in the wider community so they encourage women and girls to participate in sports.
