UNCLIPPING MUNNA’S WINGS!
4-year-old Munna and his little brother Mustafa have known many nights of hunger. Their father, a daily-wage laborer, struggled with addictions to alcohol and gutka. His erratic income was primarily spent on fuelling these vices and there was little left over for Munna, Mustafa, and their mother to meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing. The family lives in an impoverished slum community north of Mumbai.
With little to even feed themselves on, Munna’s education was a pipe dream. When we first met Munna’s mother to suggest her son be enrolled in our classes for free, she shoo-ed us away. She had never had the chance to go to school herself; her husband had studied only up to class 4, and she found it strange that we were suggesting her little children get educated. Over weeks of counseling, her attitude changed.
She gradually understood that the first 6 years of a child’s life are crucial to their life-long development, and early childhood education could set her children up for a life she’d only dreamed of for herself.
Munna joined our Beacon Learning Centre inside his slum community in 2018, and thus began his journey into education. A few months into the class, Munna’s attendance suddenly dropped. His community worker visited their home and found the family in trying times. They didn’t even have enough resources for two square meals a day. The children were sleeping on empty stomachs and were too weak to make it to class the next day. Munna was immediately referred to our healthcare team, and they got to work providing him with nutritional supplements and nutrition counseling for his family.
Over the next few months, Munna’s health improved.
Sometime later, Munna’s mother Jahanara complained to our community worker of persistent and severe stomach ache. Our community worker had earlier advised Munna’s mother against consuming tobacco or chewing gutka. She hadn’t taken her seriously though. We suspected that Jahanara’s tummyache was somehow connected to her tobacco intake. Our healthcare team got involved again and referred Jahanara to a partner municipal hospital for a primary consultation.
Jahanara was diagnosed to be in the early stage of cancer. In complete shock, Jahanara quit tobacco at once and committed to taking her health seriously. Over the next few months, our team ensured that she received all necessary treatment, and today she’s on the road to recovery.
This incident was an eye-opener for Jahanara. She understood the importance of education, sound habits, and proper nutrition. Her determination to ensure that Munna never missed class grew considerably after her experience.
In March 2020, when the first lockdown hit their slum community, Munna was worried for his future. He no longer had access to the one hearty meal he got every day at our classrooms, and his family had no smartphone on which he could join our online classes.
Generous donors like you stepped in once again, and ensured that the family received emergency grocery kits throughout the pandemic, and even arranged for an Education Representative to visit Munna’s house every day so that he could continue his studies on the Representative’s phone.
Thank you for your generous gifts that have taken Munna on a journey he never imagined for himself from early 2018 to today. In the last three years, your donations have brought education into his life, vital healthcare services for himself and his mother, and ensured that the pandemic didn’t steal away their progress.
Thank you for believing in Munna and investing in his future. Many blessings to you!
