Scaling new heights, literally!

The story of Monika, the girl who was selected to be part of an all-female scientific wilderness expedition, Girls on Ice Cascades, in Washington, USA

The first time I met Monika, the 15-year-old from Hutup, a village in Jharkhand, she was defying societal norms by playing and coaching soccer and paying her way through school. She had told me she wanted to design clothes for small town girls like herself — fashion that would be acceptable in their conservative society and yet be stylish enough to enable them to feel confident when confronting city girls. Some time ago, when a Muslim girl in her team wasn’t allowed to play by her family because it meant wearing shorts, Monika’s innate fashion sense came to the rescue. She asked her to wear leggings under her shorts. Her ideas were fresh and her confidence inspiring. I remember thinking this feisty teen from a tiny, unheard of village would someday scale great heights. I didn’t realise how literally this would come true.

Last month, Monika, now in class 12 and still a soccer player and coach, was selected to be part of an all-female scientific wilderness expedition, Girls on Ice Cascades, in Washington, USA. Sponsored by BookASmile Foundation and mentored by the good folk of Yuwa, the award-winning NGO from Jharkhand, which uses football to empower girls to overcome violence and choose their own futures, Monika spent two weeks on Mount Baker, an active volcano, learning about glacial ecology and glacier travel skills. 

“In my village, girls hardly ever came out and played, let alone follow their dreams,” Monika told me after she returned from the expedition. “I wanted to set an example for young girls, especially the ones in Little Sunrise, the team I coach.” Initially, it wasn’t easy. Monika had neither walked on snow before nor was she used to wearing heavy trekking boots. “Moreover, the other girls in my team were much better dressed while all I had were my soccer jerseys,” she recounted. Once again, Monika realised that her childhood dream of using fashion as a confidence-building tool for girls like her had a lot of scope. “But since the beginning, everyone there was so nice to me that I soon felt at ease with them.”  

For Monika, the expedition was a transformational experience. “My self-confidence received a huge boost when I completed the expedition,” she says. Her other teammates had much more experience of trekking on snowy terrain. “They were very fit too,” she said, adding with satisfaction, “but I was as fit as them.” After spending two weeks with her teammates, all from different states in the US, Monika found that as girls, they too faced all manner of challenges. “Breaking stereotypes, rising above gender biases and living one’s dreams is difficult for girls no matter where they live — if they can do it, so can we.” she told me. “Now that I’m back in Hutup, these are the stories I tell to the players I coach.”

Monika still wants to be a soccer coach and fashion designer for rural girls. But now she also wants to inspire other girls in her village to spread their wings and explore the world. “I want to tell them my story,” she said. “Maybe it will give them hope that any dream is achievable for a girl from Jharkhand.”