In the narrow lanes of Mumbai’s slums, girls sit in government classrooms with stretched budgets, packed benches, and scarce supplies each day. Attention tilts toward boys, while girls are gently steered to leave early for work or marriage. Many slip behind in reading, writing, and basic maths, and some drop out long before they should.
To shift this reality, activist Aarti Naik started Sakhi for Girls Education. Since 2008, Sakhi has built safe learning spaces in Malad’s slums and in Osmanabad’s villages, where girls strengthen academics, grow life skills, and find the courage to stay in school. When COVID 19 shut classrooms and pushed learning online, a lack of phones and devices meant even determined students suddenly had no way to continue.
The Larger Context
Sakhi for Girls Education builds safe spaces where girls can learn and grow. The organisation works on computer literacy, foundational education, life skills, and rights awareness, helping girls see themselves as future leaders in their neighbourhoods. With steady support and a caring approach, Sakhi has helped many girls rediscover learning and trust their own promise.
The pandemic created a barrier few expected. Classes moved online, yet very few homes had smartphones or tablets, so years of progress were at risk. To keep learning alive, Sakhi needed a way to place digital devices with girls who needed them most.
Our Creative Intention
Sakhi partnered with social consulting firm AVISI and Simit Bhagat Studios to craft an original crowdfunding film. The goal was simple and urgent. To raise funds so girls could receive tablet computers and continue learning from home without losing ground.
At Simit Bhagat Studios, our intention was to tell Sakhi’s story with honesty, focus, and emotional clarity. We wanted supporters to understand the challenge, and also to feel the hope and determination already alive within the girls and the organisation.
Shaping the Crowdfunding Film
Working with Sakhi and AVISI, we created a crowdfunding video that used photographs and existing visuals instead of live footage. The film blends still images of girls, learning spaces, and daily moments with on screen text and music, so the story opens gently and stays clear.
We drew on Sakhi’s journey, the reality of girls in Mumbai’s slums, and the urgent need for tablets. By pairing images, plain text, and a steady rhythm, the film explains the Girls Digital School initiative and shows how one device can keep a girl from dropping out. Students from the University of Berkeley joined the campaign, helping the message travel further.
The crowdfunding effort raised 2,259 US dollars in one month. These funds played a vital role in helping Sakhi provide tablet computers so more girls could continue their education during an incredibly difficult time.
What This Project Showed Us
For us, this work showed how thoughtful crowdfunding films can move people to act. By bringing AVISI, Sakhi for Girls Education, and Simit Bhagat Studios together, the campaign combined clear messaging, real stories, and purposeful visuals to meet a specific, immediate need.
The film is a reminder that creative collaterals, when rooted in community reality, can help social impact organisations raise resources and awareness, one focused campaign at a time.
If this story resonated with you, and if you want to craft a crowdfunding film or visual campaign that supports your organisation’s work, reach out to us. We would love to help you shape a story that connects with your audience and inspires them to act.
Client: SAKHI for Girls Education
Discipline: Films and Photography
Editor: Simit Bhagat
