Farah

A SHOULDER TO LEAN ON!

Life has never been the same for little Farah* and her family ever since Farah’s father, the sole breadwinner of the family passed away 10 months ago.

Over two decades before this, Farah’s father had moved to Mumbai in search of work. With no employment opportunities back in his village, Farah’s father knew that the city of dreams – Mumbai – offers multiple employment opportunities. In Mumbai, he settled into a makeshift hutment in one of the poorest slum communities which is bordered by the city’s largest garbage dump. The unclean surroundings and poor sanitation often affected little Farah’s health. Living in unauthorised settlements and abject poverty, like many others in the slum community, Farah’s family also struggles for basic necessities such as drinking water, electricity and sanitation.

In 2019, Little Farah walked into our Beacon Learning Centre inside her slum community. Your gifts reached out to her with quality education and also a healthy nutritious midday meal, health checkups and dental assessments, stationery, uniforms and much more. Seeing her child’s progress, Farah’s mother began to attend our focus group meetings too.

“Farah can tell you the names of animals and birds in English and also knows many poems by-heart,” says her teacher.

The COVID-19 pandemic made things difficult for little Farah’s family. With no savings and source of income, their house rent began to pile up. They were unable to make payments in time and slipped into debt. Hunger was knocking at their door too. That is when your gifts came to Farah’s rescue, providing her family with groceries each month throughout the pandemic and hearty nutritious snacks for the children. It was in this horrific time that her father passed away.

Left with no choice, Farah’s elder brother took up the responsibility of a father on his shoulders. He now works to provide daily basic necessities for his family while her mother takes up tailoring orders and looks after the children and the home.

Your gifts enabled Farah to study with us throughout the pandemic. When thousands of other children in poverty, nationwide, could no longer stick with their education because of the digital divide, Farah pulled through because of your support. When Farah’s mother attended the bi-annual Open House, to receive her daughter’s Report Card, she was the happiest to see her daughter’s progress.

Today, Farah dreams of becoming a Policewoman when she grows up. We look forward to enrolling Farah in formal school soon so that she achieves her dream.

Thank you for stepping in and lending your helping hand to Farah and her family in their most trying days. In the face of her father’s loss, Farah and her family have been able to hold on to hope because of kind supporters like you that have stood with them in this journey. Many blessings to you!