Who are peer leaders?

They are adolescents elected from their communities who undergo intensive life skills training with Railway Children India. Through a comprehensive three-day workshop, they learn essential skills that equip them to become changemakers. Once trained, they return to their communities, form groups with peers, and pass on their learning through engaging, activity-based sessions, which are supervised by our community mobilizers.

Disha is one such peer leader.
Let’s take a look at her day to understand what goes on behind the scenes of this powerful youth-led movement.

A resident of Tulsi Nagar and currently studying in the 11th standard, Disha begins her day early. She’s up by 5 AM, helping her mother with household chores before setting off for school at 6:35 AM. But academics and home responsibilities are just part of her packed day.

Disha is one of six peer leaders who take charge of planning and co-conducting life skills sessions for their peers. Loving every bit of this role, Disha explains, “I was nervous initially, thinking ‘how will I manage this responsibility?’ But now, I’m really enjoying everything about this role.”

Each day before a session, Disha and her fellow peer leaders come together to decide on the activities they’ll conduct. The goal is to create a space where everyone feels seen, heard, and involved.

“I recollect the foremost session I conducted on self-awareness,” elaborates Disha. “The objective of the session was to encourage participants to reflect on their likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses.”

“As we had experienced during the Life Skills Training Session, I asked all my friends to list down five things that they liked and five that they disliked. I then asked everyone to form smaller groups and interact with each other. In doing so, I made a note of how well each of my group members was able to communicate and how much information each one could memorize.”

As a peer leader, attending a life skills session and then taking it back to the community for their peers, is dual learning and deeper understanding. More importantly, it sets the tone for a sustainable model where a community thrives with collaboration.

When she’s not leading, Disha is observing, supporting, and learning.

“I take feedback and resolve doubts of my friends.” But when asked what brings her the most joy in the sessions, Disha is quick to share, “Conducting games and listening to the stories of my friends of how they implemented the life skills we taught.”

At the end of the day, she heads home, helps her mother again, and spends her evenings studying, preparing not just for her academic exams, but also for the next day’s session.

Disha’s day is proof that leadership isn’t about age, but initiative.
With every session she leads, she’s not just building her own confidence but also inspiring others to believe in themselves—a process she’s most proud of.