Women Education Is The Need Of The Hour
With the launch of the Gracia Raina Foundation (GRF) in May 2017, Priyanka Chaudhary Raina has been dividing time between her 19-month-old-daughter Gracia and her entrepreneurial role of helping the underprivileged mothers in India.
“I feel privileged to be grown up in a lifestyle where my pre- and post-pregnancy was taken care of. Motherhood made me realise and sensitise towards the need of the girl child and underprivileged women in India,” says Raina who has been actively engaged with various NGOs to promote girl child education and gender equality.
Her Foundation, named after her daughter Gracia, aims to provide support and effective solutions to ensure maternal and newborn wellness to women by implementing a self-sustained model. “The idea is to empower, engage and facilitate women by enhancing their capabilities. Our model is a creative collaboration to provide a supportive environment for all women,” she says.
GRF is dedicated to create awareness and work closely with mothers and children who require help ranging from physical and mental issues. “I want to create a happy zone for these mothers who can cherish every moment of their pregnancy and give birth to a child in a happy environment,” feels Raina.
Raina stresses on the fact that the need of the hour is awareness and education of women. “It is important for women to empower and know what is right and what is wrong at this time. They should be able to take the right decision, become self-sustained and financially independent to take prompt decisions in life.”
In January 2018, Raina along with her cricketer-husband Suresh Raina plan to organise a fundraising event and set up a wellness centre in South Delhi. “The first wellness centre will be in Delhi where we will collaborate with the leading hospitals for mobile healthcare services for women residing in the nearby areas,” she says.
The Foundation is open to building partnerships between businesses, NGOs, and individuals with diverse perspectives and resources to address and solve critical issues affecting individuals and communities, from combating the effects to improving the lives of women.
Although Raina brings an impeccable pedigree from the corporate sector to her work as a social entrepreneur, working towards the upliftment of the girl child has given her a new mission in life. “I was a software engineer by education, and worked as a banker in the Netherlands. But from my experience of working as a social entrepreneur, I feel that one needs to know how to deal with the problem and it is best advisable to ‘learn from your problems’ and this is something best suitable in everyday life,” she concludes.
