They work for the adolescent program of a non-governmental organization named Mamta that recruits and trains young people to do community outreach on diet, hygiene, contraception, prenatal care, and sexually transmitted diseases. The major underlying theme of their work is the importance of education and literacy. Nirmala and her colleagues see literacy as the key to social change, and feel that the more women and young girls are educated, the more they will be able to participate in decisions that will profoundly affect their life. Many studies that look at the reproductive health of women and adolescent girls reveal a strong link between lack of education, early marriage and motherhood, and high fertility rates. Nirmala and her friends seem poised to move beyond the very limited world of their mothers.
Education is the one true beacon of hope they see for themselves and their community.
China is the world's most populous nation, with 1.3 billion people. The government started a controversial policy of limiting family size in 1979. During the Great Leap Forward of the 1950s under Mao Tse-Tung, an estimated 30 million people starved to death. Penalties for disobeying the rule are officially heavy fines. Human rights groups charge that women who have not complied have also been forced to be sterilized or to have late-term abortions.