Before we met for this portrait four years had passed. My first experience with her was as a student in the Humana People to People India Girls Bridge Schools. Over a span of four years her class and school were photographed, documenting access to education for the girls of this region.
Then the school closed due to lack of funding. The girls returned to working in the fields full-time, with some being fortunate enough to attend the local government school. A year or so ago an inquiry to the foundation resulted in an offer to reopen the schools should funding be found.
As it so happened two wonderful spaces in Cleveland, Artistic Muse Gallery and the Cleveland Print Room, offered to host benefits for the schools. The result was a reopening of three schools in Rajasthan and three additional schools in Haryana, a nearby state.
She is once again attending classes under the tutelage of the same wonderful teacher. The expression on her face gives away an excitement, and fills me with the same for her and her sisters.
www.halimina.org
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