PURSUING EDUCATION THROUGH THE PANDEMIC
6-year-old Umekulsum lives with her mother and brothers in a small makeshift hutment in one of the poorest slum communities in Mumbai. Her father passed away a few years ago and her mother couldn’t bear the loss.
Living in the financial capital of the country, it was difficult to survive without the sole breadwinner of the family. Umekulsum’s brothers took up the responsibility of earning for them. Umekulsum’s eldest brother had completed his high-secondary education. But instead of pursuing a professional degree, he took up work as a building security guard to ensure that Umekulsum and her mother had some financial support.
Two decades ago, Umekulsum’s father had moved to Mumbai with his family to earn a living. He settled in the poorest part of the city – the M East ward. Living in unauthorized settlements, they’re deprived of basic government facilities such as water, sanitation, and electricity. To get these simple necessities, they pay hefty charges to private dealers. It was vital that Umekulsum’s brothers found work for the family to survive. His job has kept their family of 5 afloat since their father’s death.
Umekulsum joined our Beacon Learning Centre inside her slum in 2019. Your gifts reached out to her with hearty nutritious meals every weekday, stationery, regular health checkups, and dental assessments, educational material, and much more.
But when the pandemic hit the country in 2020, all these services ended abruptly. Umekulsum no longer received her rich daily nutritious meal. Her brother lost his job, and their hand-to-mouth existence became worse. The family felt the absence of their father like never before. They fell many months behind on their meagre rent, and Umekulsum no longer had access to education. It looked like all the progress they’d made since their father died was being undone by the pandemic.
In the early days of the pandemic, our Vision Rescue community of supporters like you rallied around Umekulsum’s family. When they struggled for food, your donations enabled us to get monthly groceries to their doorstep every month of the pandemic. Hope came into their home with your help.
A few months later, we began online classes for our Beacon Learning Centre children who had access to a working smartphone at home. Thankfully Umekulsum could join us online. She completed the last academic year with us online and is onboard for this one too.
Over 300 children in her slum community are now a part of our Beacon Learning Centre online classes. While schools have remained shut for over 600 days globally now, these precious children have been able to sustain their education because of your donations. While many other children in their community have either dropped out of school, migrated back to their hometowns, or fallen prey to labor for survival, your donations have ensured the safety and security of Umekulsum and her classmates.
Thank you for Reaching out with Love to Umekulsum and her family in their toughest times. Many blessings to you for all you’ve done!
