Reshma Dixit — A Social Worker Driven by Her Passion to Bring Positive Change

Hola guys!

We hope you are enjoying your long weekend and if you are in Gujarat, then you must have had a blast on the most-awaited festival: Uttarayan aka Makar Sankranti aka Kite festival.

Also, wishing you all Happy Republic Day in advance

This is what it looked like in our city during the kite festival:

While Mondays are hard, this one will be harder coming back from a long weekend. So, here’s some weekend inspiration to help you prep for the coming week. Meet this week’s wonder woman: Dr. Reshma Dixit.

A social worker driven by her passion to help others and bring a positive change in society.

Her Introduction

Reshma: Seeing happy faces brings contentment to me. I work as a catalyst in changing the lives of many unprivileged people living in the most inhuman conditions. Social work is my passion and I love every second of it. I have always wished to bring a positive change to society and I am grateful to have the opportunity to do what I wanted the most.

I have been working in this sector for 22 years and have carved my journey by working hard and total commitment to my profession.

I pride myself on being an exemplary leader, as a founder of a non-profit organization, I have been strategizing the work of the organization, building the capacities of the staff, diversifying resources as well as making sure we are making increasing the impact we are driving.

I am a part of the core team of trainers trained by UNICEF on Child Protection Issues. As an organization, we have been able to rescue more than 1000 children living in difficult situations. Additionally, we have provided shelter and restored more than 100 children. We have enrolled more than 579 children in schools and have provided medical support to more than 600 people.

I have dared to dream and turn that dream into the reality of my life. I have always wanted to do my Ph.D. when I was in college. My dreams took a backseat due to other priorities in my life, such as marriage, children, etc. But, I did not let go of my dream and as soon as I saw an opportunity I got enrolled in the University of Delhi for Ph.D.

With lots of pains, tears, smiles, and sacrifices I have completed my Ph.D. and have been awarded the Doctorate. I have worked with international and national organizations on different social issues. My forte is program management, donor relations, partnership management, government liaison, and research. I have effectively led and managed a total of 20 projects with 67 partners across four states on diverse thematic areas.

I have managed grants of more than 16 Crores. Training being my forte, I have trained & empowered more than 1000 people on different topics.

A keen interest in academic writing has led me to write five articles that have been published in journals and edited books.

My professional achievements have been:

• Successful completion of high valued projects of UNICEF, UNH, and WaterAid.
• Starting the first HIV/AIDS care center in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.
• Establishing a fruitful partnership with the Education Department of Uttar Pradesh.

We can only say Thank You for all your contributions!! More power to you✨

Her Journey:

Reshma: My journey started from a suburb in Mumbai with loads of dreams for me and my family. I have seen all colors of life. As a young girl from a broken family, I longed for nothing but a loving and complete family.

I have seen pain and distress from a young age and grew up to be a very sensitive and mature young girl, aware of the problems of life but ready to take life by its horns.

As a young girl, I was charmed by the notion of helping, supporting, and empowering people. I decided to take up social work as a profession and landed in one of the premier institutes of our country.

Whatever I’m is all because of what I have learned during my graduation and post-graduation in social work from Nirmala Niketan, College of Social Work, University of Mumbai. I used to be a very active student and was always involved in the programs and student unions and forums in the college. I wanted to start working in the rural areas as I believed that the problems are grave there and if we are able to bring any change in those areas, then people might become independent and sustainable.

I wanted to work in the backward villages of Madhya Pradesh and learn about their culture and language. So, I decided to live with the villagers and understand their problems and culture closely. It wasn’t an easy thing to do but I enjoyed working with the women and children there.

I still remember the long walk through the fields and near the canals. The work there made me realize that I need to start my own organization to work in the areas to better child rights, public health, and women empowerment. A few of us like-minded individuals started work in these areas and tried to bring progress and development.

Since then, I have been working with many national and international organizations to bring a change in the lives of many people. I kept on growing and making strides towards my goal one step at a time.

Such an inspiring journey Reshma. We can understand your passion to help backward and unprivileged communities and give them a chance to lift themselves and their lives up.

Her Inspiration:

Reshma: My inspiration is my goal and vision. I am a very goal-oriented person, I have well-defined goals lined up and want to achieve each and every goal of mine. I believe in being an inspiration to others and thus keep continuously learning and working on myself. I got my inspiration from my mother who was a teacher and kept preparing her daily lessons and trying to learn new methods of teaching her students.

I want to be a leader who sets an example and motivates and hones the talent of the people working with me.

Ahha! A leader who leads with an example. And you are doing a really good job, Reshma! We all are already inspired :D

Incidents that Changer her Life:

Reshma: My journey was inspired by two incidents in my childhood. One was at the age of 10 when a man in tatters knocked on my door and asked me to buy the knitting yarn he was selling. As no one was at home I told him I could not buy it but he insisted and said he is hungry and needs to eat.

I asked to help but he said just buy the yarn if you really want to help me. I was so taken by him that I broke my piggy bank to buy his yarn.

Another incident was when I was 12, I went with my aunt to an NSS camp. I saw young students working with the villagers and teaching them and cleaning and constructing things with them in order to develop the village. Seeing villagers so happy made me realize that they too want an opportunity to get out of the difficult situation they are in. They just need a hand to pull them up. So, when the time came, I took a decision to pursue a Bachelor’s in Social Work and work for the upliftment of the downtrodden.

Other Things that Reshma Loves:

Reshma: I love dancing, singing, listening to music, reading, long walks; all of them elevate my mood, and nature intrigues me. I enjoy being with myself and others equally. I enjoy practicing meditation and reiki.

Her Message for Young Girls/Women:

Reshma: I would like to tell all the girls and women out there to dream as big as you can. Nothing and no one can stop you from chasing those dreams when you believe in yourself and your dreams. There is no other barrier to achieving your dreams but you, so keep going. There will be times when you will feel like quitting because of pressures, be positive and optimistic and you will definitely reach your goal.

Our key takeaway:

Adversities are a big part of everyone’s lives, it’s all about your approach and perception. It might seem impossible to look at the positives sometimes, but there usually is that one ray of hope, even in the darkest of rooms. The key is to be aware of yourself and your surroundings. And most importantly, always be true to your own self. At the end of the day, you have to answer yourself, no matter what.

So, find that’s essentially you and then do it with all of your heart and soul.

That’s a wrap for this week! We will be back next week in a new year with another inspirational woman and her journey.

Till then let us know your key takeaways from Reshma’s journey in the comment section or tweet to us at @romaamarnani and @hiralthaker12

Writer’s note: This story is written in collaboration with Roma Amarnani.

If you want to share your story with the world, reach out to us at inspireuswomenwho@gmail.com! We would love to learn and share your story and help you inspire others.

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