As Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle has eagerly jumped into various charitable causes, but of course, before she became a royal, Meghan was already deeply involved in humanitarian efforts. Previously unseen footage released by World Vision, shows Meghan Markle’s time in Delhi and Mumbai in India in 2017, when she was a Global Ambassador for the charity.
World Vision aims to turn around the lives of the world’s poorest children. Meghan’s work with them began while she was starring in US legal drama Suits, and focused often on girls’ empowerment and education.
The newly resurfaced footage shared on ITV shows Meghan planting and watering flowers and also painting signs with pupils at a school where new toilet facilities had just been installed. Lack of access to clean hygiene facilities impacted the ability of girls to go to school. In the video Meghan stresses the importance of the latrines, stating “What we’ve found is that the enrollment at this school went up three times as much once the latrines were built so that girls had access to clean hygiene and bathroom facilities while they’re at school.”
When she returned she penned an essay about the experience and the initiative titled “How Periods Affect Potential” forTIME magazine.
In it she describes how the “stigma surrounding menstruation and lack of access to proper sanitation inhibit young women from pursuing an education”, referring to the staggering numbers of girls around the world (an estimated 113 million in India alone) at risk of dropping out of school.
Meghan’s work with World Vision is well documented, particularly her trip to Rwanda in 2016 which focused on the importance of access to clean water. Referring to her work with then, as well as her future charity efforts as a member of the Royal Family, World Vision Canada’s Chief Marketing and Development Officer Lara Dewar, has previouslysaid “She will undoubtedly bring vast energy to her charity work as a member of the Royal Family. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for her and Prince Harry – a couple who clearly have a heart for social justice.”