1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Swarming bees are a familiar sight in this rural Indian village of Bhojpah, the men here

2
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,000
have always kept bees and made honey. Now, for the first time, a woman calls herself

3
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:14,000
a beekeeper.

4
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:21,000
I love animals and insects, but people thought that beekeeping was a job only men and boys

5
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:27,000
could do, that women couldn't do it. This was a big concern for me, because I thought

6
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:35,000
that if I did any business, it would be this and nothing else.

7
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,000
At just 17 years old, Anita credits her success to the fact that as a young girl she was able

8
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:51,000
to get an education, despite the odds. In the state of Bihar, where she lives, only

9
00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:58,000
one in six girls are literate. Born into a family finding it hard to make ends meet,

10
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,000
her parents needed her to look after goats instead of going to school. One day she snuck

11
00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:09,000
into school and loved it so much, she convinced her parents to let her stay. She was able

12
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:14,000
to raise money for school fees by tutoring other students, and save enough money to buy

13
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:21,000
two queen bees. She now has 125 queen bees, producing enough honey to pay for her college.

14
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,000
After studying, because of my education, I want to become a social worker, so I can work

15
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:36,000
for the community and for the people. I have observed in my village there is a lot of poverty,

16
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,000
there is no one to look after the poor people.

17
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:47,000
A UNICEF-supported project run by the NGO Going to School has honoured Anita as a girl

18
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:54,000
star, an example of courage and success among girls and women in India. For her community,

19
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:59,000
Anita is a role model. Her perseverance will continue to inspire families to send their

20
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:06,000
daughters to school. This is Rachel Warden reporting for UNICEF Television. Unite for Children.