Baby steps to empowerment
“In the early days, it was a real challenge to convince Aasmaa’s parents to let her join our early-childhood education classes,” says our Community Case Officer. Aasmaa* lives in a slum community in the north of Mumbai, known for its unsafe streets frequented by addicts and peddlers. Aasmaa’s parents couldn’t imagine their precious little girl being out of her home, and in a classroom, for extended hours each day.
Aasmaa’s life in Mumbai began a few years ago, when her father moved to the megapolis in search of a better life. He struggled to find a steady job in Mumbai with his basic education. He spent his days scouting for daily-wage work, and in this time, little Aasmaa grew up at home – missing out on her crucial years of early learning. 175 million pre-primary children are not enrolled in education, noted UNICEF in 2019. Aasmaa is one child in that daunting statistic.
Out of school, Aasmaa spent her days playing on the gully just outside her home all day. And that’s where we met her for the first time. She took us home to meet her parents, and we learnt that Aasmaa had never been to school, till date. Through long conversations over three home visits, our case officers convinced Aasmaa’s parents about the foundational importance of early childhood education. Finally, they agreed to enrol her at our Beacon Learning Centre.
At Vision Rescue’s Beacon Learning Centre, along with quality education, your gifts reach out to Aasmaa with nutritious meals, stationery, family visits and counselling, healthcare assessment and dental checkups.
During frequent home visits to support Aasmaa’s family, we learnt that her mother was on medications as she struggled with some health issues. Her ailments continued to persist despite the treatment. Our medical team stepped in to help Aasmaa’s mother and referred her to one of our partner hospitals near her slum community. Through subsidised treatment and priority care, Aasmaa’s mother recovered.
In early 2020, when the pandemic hit India, a nationwide lockdown forced us to shut our classrooms and shift to online classes. Our teachers quickly caught on to the ropes of teaching children online, and they made the online classes full of fun-filled activities. For children with access to smartphones, these classes were a boon that helped many of them stick to education even while their peers in their own slum communities were dropping out of education. Our efforts did not reach Aasmaa though. She was left behind by the digital divide. Her parents couldn’t afford a smartphone and Aasmaa missed out on her classes with us.
Seeing the need to help children without devices at home, our teachers raised an army of Education Representatives – educated youth with smartphones in our target slum communities, who would go to the homes of children without phones like Aasma and teach them on their own smartphones. Initially, Aasmaa struggled with this new way of learning but gradually she began to adapt and enjoy it.
The pandemic didn’t just shut schools, it also shut down shopping markets, offices and every work opportunity that daily-wage labourers like Aasmaa’s father had. Kind supporters like you, stepped up right in time to Aasmaa’s rescue with essential groceries for her and her family each month of the pandemic. With our network NGO, The Breakfast Revolution, we were also able to provide high nutrition breakfast snacks to hundreds of families like Aasmaa’s in the slum communities.
Vision Rescue’s interventions over the last few years have helped Aasmaa’s parents change their perspective on early childhood education. They’re so glad to see their child learn and grow. With our case officer’s help, recently, Aasmaa’s father has been able to find a steady job too.
Thank you for investing your gifts and love into Aasmaa’s life. She dreams of becoming a teacher when she grows up and we can’t wait to enrol her in a formal school soon so that she continues to engage and sustain in education.
