Sony Ayub Pathan is starting life anew at 13 years. She was a little girl when she lost her father to a fatal illness. When she was six, her mother Sunita and two-year-old sister Rani moved into the slum community in Kalwa, and Sony spent her early childhood mothering her baby sister while Sunita foraged for work. A few years ago, Sunita remarried, hoping for a better life for herself and her children. But circumstances took the family down a different road.
Sony’s stepfather works as a ragpicker. He also struggles with alcoholism, and is often prone to domestic violence. After he married Sunita, the two would leave the home early every morning to pick and sell rags, and return only late at night. Every day, while her mother and stepfather worked the rag-picking circuits, Sony would look after the home and take care of her sister.
Four years ago, Sony’s step sister Sakeena was born to the family, and Sony now had one more sibling to protect from the dangers facing unmonitored children within a slum community.
It was in this bleak situation that you shined hope through your partnership that uplifts the downtrodden.
Because you stepped into Sony’s life, at age 13, she began to learn to read and write in our open schooling centre; her sisters have joined different branches of our education programs, and all three of them receive a nutritious meal daily, medical and dental care, and a chance to dream big dreams.
Today, Sony says she wants to grow up to become a doctor. Thank you for gifting Sony, and others like her, the choice to dream beyond their circumstances!
