Abdul MD is the seventh of nine children. While the first four study at a boarding school madrasa, Abdul MD and his brother Abdul Rehman were admitted in a private school near his slum community. Their father, a tailor, is the sole earning member of their 11-member family and soon, he could no longer afford to send Abdul MD to school.
Abdul dropped out and began to spend his days at home with his Taslima, also a drop out.
The children live in a slum community that’s been razed to the ground twice over in the last decade. As an unauthorized settlement, its people always fear the bulldozers, but make the most of the days at hand.
Like thousands of others in this slum community, Abdul MD’s father too migrated into this slum community from Bihar – one of India’s poorest states with rampant unemployment. He left his ancestral home to find a living in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai.
Well over a decade since, he now just about supports his family in their one-roomed, semi-built structure in a slum community that borders the city’s largest garbage dump.
Here, the grip of poverty runs so deep that half the children below age 6 are malnourished, and the average life expectancy is 39 years, compared to the rest of India’s 67 years.
It’s no surprise then that poverty caused Abdul MD to drop out of school too.
However, thanks to your support, Vision Rescue was able to enrol Abdul MD into our Open Basic Education course designed just for older children who’ve discontinued their education.
Abdul MD loved our classes and he began to thrive in our Beacon Learning Centre. He takes great pride in coming well dressed to class, and he now has a renewed passion for education.
He is convinced that education is his only passport to freedom. He dreams of becoming a doctor one day and supporting his family.
Vision Rescue also plans to offer vocational training classes to Abdul’s older sisters so that they too can support their family financially once they finish school.
Vision Rescue also plans to offer vocational training classes to Abdul’s older sisters so that they too can support their family financially once they finish school.
Thank you for rescuing Abdul MD from the life of a drop out and giving him education and hope for a bright future instead!
