Plustrust Anchors, Uttar Pradesh
Simmi Moziz, Faizabad, Ayodhya
Simmi hails from Faizabad, Ayodhya. She is passionate about education and aspired to become a teacher from an early age. She was surprised when she found that the girls around her were not inclined to go to school. Soon, she was able to persuade neighbours to send younger girls to school. She could also inspire many girls by her own enthusiasm for education. She has continued her efforts to help adolescent girls as they struggle to overcome the challenges they face in her locality. She was selected for the Plustrust Rural Women Edupreneur fellowship in 2016 and she went on to set up “Prerana Kishori Vikas Kendra” for adolescent girls. The centres continue to serve the needs of about 150 teenage girls offering life skills and knowledge about basic rights and education.
She has built up her own skill as an educator and now trains young women in activity-based learning. The WIPRO seeding change fellowship for three years has helped her stabilise her work.
She and her husband Afaq Ullah run a grassroots organisation called Awadh People’s Forum which works with youth, promoting harmony and awareness.
They have together anchored two batches of fellowships and worked with 13 fellows, despite the constraints they faced because of the COVID Pandemic.
Afaq Ullah, Faizabad, Ayodhya
Afaq completed his post-graduation in human rights from Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi in 2006 and began working in Delhi with Hazard Centre a common platform for the urban poor. This experience inspired him to commit himself to the social sector. He returned home to start Awadh Peoples Forum, to promote communal harmony in their region. He has been building his own skills as a social development professional and inspiring young people around him.
Awadh People’s Forum has up local learning centres called Apna Talim Ghar and centres for adolescent girls called Prerna Kishori Vikas Kendra, by engaging closely with the community. Resources are contributed by the community and many volunteers have stepped up to participate in these initiatives. In recognition of the good work Afaq has been a Changelooms fellow and a Wipro fellow. He is well networked with youth led organisations across India. During the COVID Pandemic the Afaq took the lead in reaching emergency supplies to over 350 families of workers from the North east stranded in Faizabad for several months.
Afaq and his wife Simmi are Anchors in Plustrust and they have offered microincubation support to 13 women in the past two years.
