Sydney-based motivational speaker, the editor of Y-Magazine and multi-award winner Shar Moore, who has her roots in India, has toured hundreds of kilometres across Australia over the pat month to raise awareness of the plight of young girls in rural India.
“I was at a speaking event in New Delhi when I learnt that only one in 100 girls in rural India actually attend school. They work, get displaced or sometimes work as slaves.
“Once I heard that, I had to do something about it,” she tells SBS Hindi.
Moore who has been running her magazine in Australia started a special project to raise awareness for these needs.
“My middle name is Rani. Our daughter whom we adopted from India is named Rani. So we named this Project RANI - Raising Awareness for Needs in India,” she says.
Moore spent the month of July on road travelling from Gold Coast to raise funds and awareness for the cause.
“We are taking Project Rani, from Gold coast to down the coast. Our YTour caravan is holding sessions with women’s group and whatever we sell in July, all proceeds will go to Food For Life Vrindavan in India,” she says.
Moore was raised by her mother and step-father in countryside Victoria. She recalls how she stood her ground as a child which changed her life.
Moore spent the month of July on road travelling from Gold Coast to raise funds and awareness for the cause. Source: Supplied
“I had no contact with my biological father. I moved to country Victoria with my mother from Thailand and when I was 11, I learnt that my grandmother in India had arranged my marriage with a man nine years older.
“I was engaged and I was spoken for by a man in India from the age of 11 till 15. It wasn’t my choice. I didn’t have a say in it,” she says.
Moore though opted out when her step-dad stood by her.
Shar chose to not get married as per her grandmother’s arrangement. Instead, she moved out of her country home in Victoria and chose a path and a partner of her own.
Source: Supplied
“Today my husband and I have been married for 25 years, have two sons and a daughter and two grandkids,” she told SBS Hindi.
“But even today, many girls in rural India do not have a choice. If they were educated, they could take their decisions and perhaps choose not to marry early. That’s what we are trying to achieve through our efforts here.”
