Braving gender biases, this social entrepreneur set up her own non-profit enterprise to empower children
Dr Priya Virmani has been making waves globally with her work in fast-tracking social change by empowering underserved women, boys, and girls across India. She started the Paint Our World trust, which rehabilitates and empowers orphans and children who are victims of rape and abuse.
As a female social entrepreneur, Dr Priya Virmani has been looked down upon by her male peers, and for not having any male backing.
However, Priya braved all the roadblocks and doubts, and created a name for herself and is living a life she enjoys- taking care of children through her trust- (POW).
Today, apart from being a social entrepreneur, she is also an author, political and economic analyst, and CEO of luxury travel publication Ame-Luxe.
Journey of her entrepreneurship
Her desire to do something for the children started at an early age. One early rainy morning, four-year-old Priya was on her way to school in Kolkata. She saw a few street children eating out of a rubbish bag. An older child gave a younger one something discoloured- which the little child chewed on.
Priya with the kids from Paint Our World
“That night, still unsettled by the scene I witnessed in the morning, I asked my parents ‘why can’t these children sit at a table like you and me and eat?’,” says Priya.
She moved to the UK in 1998 to study- later completed her PhD and was living a fulfilling life in the UK. But at the back of her mind, she still remembered that morning so vividly.
“The image from my four-year-old self and other similar images had become a reminder in my mind; a reminder that I wanted to reach out to children who were severely deprived in the country of my childhood,” explains Priya.
So while working in the UK, she began saving up and then began conducting workshops with children in Sonagachi — Kolkata’s notorious redlight district, on biannual trips to India.
When Priya saw the positive difference these workshops were making to the lives of the children, she gave up her life in the UK and returned to India with a mission to reach out to more children faced with the scourge of deprivation and abuse. Thus in 2013, she started POW as a registered charitable trust.
Empowering children
Over 24 lakh cases of child abuse were reported in India between 2017- 2020, with 80 percent of the victims being young girls under the age of 14 years. About 54 percent of young boys surveyed had also experienced abuse. There is an increasing need to rehabilitate these children as early as possible so that they can develop viable skills to lead an empowered life of hope, comfort, and independence.
Priya says that the concept of child health and safety is not present in India. “If you ask a parent, is it enough to give their child food, clothing and shelter, a large percentage would say that the children need more than food, clothing and shelter to live a happy life.”
“Most shelter homes provide food, clothing and shelter which keeps a child alive. But to give them a life, you need to address trauma issues, understand their breeding ground, help in their psychological issues, give them opportunities, provide them with extracurricular activities and create an environment of love, care, dignity, and safety,” Priya explains.
Kids during a yoga session at POW
Currently, with over 500 children, POW deals with emotional empowerment of children. The Trust cares for the children, investing and encouraging each child’s individual talents and potential
The therapy sessions, designed by India’s leading child psychologists and experts are intensive and have shown tremendous results in terms of helping children heal from the unimaginable traumas they have gone through, and to begin to hope and actively work towards a healthy, more stable life ahead.
“Our aim is to move these children from places of deprivation and abuse to places of empowerment and dignity.”
Based in Delhi, POW works across India in cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
Addressing global issues
Since 2018, she has held workshops on motivation and empowerment to hundreds of lower-income workers including factory workers, retail staff and men and women working on India’s tea estates.
Her workshops on women empowerment in Uttar Pradesh- enabled by Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, with underserved girls were highly applauded. These workshops according to Priya have made women reach out to her and open up about their struggles.
She also writes and speaks on topics ranging from globalisation; political economy; entrepreneurship; women's rights and the non-profit sector; psychology and motivation in various countries including India, China, the US, and the UK.
“When I write about politics and economics and causes, I campaign against issues like the dowry system, female infanticide and misogyny in India. Women have reached out to me telling me that my articles have given them the courage to stand up to abuse from their husbands and in-laws, and the experience of standing up began their individual processes of empowerment. That made me realise my writing and works can make a meaningful difference,” says Priya.
Priya firmly advocates the empowerment of the workforce ‘at the bottom of the pyramid’. She strongly believes that such an approach provides tremendous value creation for industries/businesses in both developed and developing countries.
Edited by Diya Koshy George