Arif

A stitch in time…

The first time we met Arif*, he was playing on the streets of his slum community – one of the poorest in Mumbai. The slum stretches along the edge of the city’s oldest and largest garbage dumping ground with mountains of trash, some even reaching 18 floors high, having accumulated waste 18.35 million tonnes+. The residents here – like Arif’s family – suffer from a range of ailments due to the untreated, hazardous waste and its noxious fumes.

Twenty years ago, Arif’s father moved to Mumbai in search of job opportunities and settled in this slum community. Today, the eight member family lives in a one room house.

Back in his village Arif’s father could complete only basic education – upto Grade 5. With this, he was unable to find a salaried job in Mumbai. He now works as a tailor to provide for his family.

When our case officers first met Arif’s family, his parents didn’t understand the importance of early childhood education. With continuous counselling about how foundational and transformative early education can be, they gradually changed their minds and agreed to enrol Arif in our Beacon Learning Centre. Arif joined our Junior Kindergarten, and so began his journey towards literacy.

Your donations reached out to Arif with quality education, health assessments, oral screening and dental checkups, classroom stationery, School Starter Kit etc for his benefit, and for his parents: awareness camps on different topics such as health and hygiene, coronavirus, oral health, etc, and focus group meetings on topics such as government documentation, poverty alleviation schemes etc.

At Vision Rescue, our goal is not just to engage children in education but also to sustain them in education. To sustain children in education, we provide numerous support services to the children, their families and also their communities.

For example, during the pandemic, our healthcare team shared multiple awareness videos on the coronavirus, safe personal hygiene, the importance of using masks and washing hands, using sanitizers etc, to our children and their families in the slum communities.

For Arif’s family the COVID 19 pandemic brought many sleepless nights. Arif’s father couldn’t get tailoring orders anymore thanks to the multiple lockdowns. Being the sole breadwinner of the family, he struggled to provide food for them on this unstable income. Arif’s mother began to fear hunger more than the coronavirus. Things could have gotten worse if generous supporters like you hadn’t stepped in once again. Your kind donations reached out to Arif’s family and many others like him with groceries each month of the pandemic and hearty nutritious snacks for Arif and his siblings.

With your support Arif was also able to stick to education throughout the pandemic. “He is a quick learner!” says his teacher. This year, Arif is enrolled in our Senior kindergarten. We’re looking forward to enrolling Arif in a formal school soon so that he continues to engage and sustain in education.

Arif would have never seen beyond the heaps of garbage bordering his slum community if not for you. But today, because you opened the doors of education for him, Arif can now dream high! Thank you for your generosity in Reaching out with Love to Arif and his family.