Jodhpur: Education opens minds, and sometimes helps conquer peaks too. For Chauthi, crippled with polio as a child, married at 16 and disowned by her in-laws soon after, education has given a new focus to her life and made her self-reliant.

Chauthi from Kansar village in Jodhpur district, nearly 400 km from here, was the third of six siblings of a family of a poor landless labourer. In over a year after her marriage, her husband and in-laws abandoned Chauthi because of her handicap. She could not claim maintenance from her husband because she did not know about the legal provisions.

"When I was abandoned by my husband I did not know that a woman could move court for maintenance. I was depressed," Chauthi said. "After I returned to my parents, a friend of mine told me about short educational and vocational courses. I joined a three-month residential camp of a project Doosra Dashak, run by a Delhi based non-governmental organisation and it was a turning point in my life," Chauthi narrated.

Doosra Dashak is a project run by the Foundation for Education & Development (FED). The project aims to provide relevant education to people in the 11-20 age group and equip them for adolescence and family life. The project is being implemented in nine blocks of Rajasthan, which covers a population of about 15 million. These blocks are poor and backward.

Chauthi trained in embroidery and now earns Rs.42 for stitching a small cushion. She is the lone earning member of her family and a peer group leader. She counsels girls of her age and helps them overcome personal travails.

Chauthi is also at the forefront of social justice struggles involving her peers. She walks with difficulty, but the confidence of her voice makes up for her physical handicap. From a lonely, fragile figure Chauthi is now a "peer educator", a role model. IANS