You may have seen the gorgeous oval building in the ‘Golden City’ in the hot Indian desert, and admired the design and the craftsmanship of the men who carved it from the local yellow sandstone. But the people who funded it, and the architect who designed it, want you to focus on something else – all the girls who will get a chance for a different future because of that school, and all the women craftspeople who also will get such a chance through a women’s cooperative that will be the next phase.

Citta built the school in Jaisalmer in the desert state of Rajasthan because they say, in all of India, that is the area with the lowest female literacy rate – 36%. While governments have been working on different schemes to get more girls into school, Citta decided to focus on persuading communities by offering them economic incentives. Soon, 400 girls, ranging from kindergarten to class 10, will be studying at the Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School.