THE LONG ROAD TO LITERACY
“We don’t want our children to suffer as we did; they should get at least basic education,” says a parent in the slum community at Kalwa, north Mumbai.
Five-year-old Ratnesh’s father Shrishila is one such parent hoping for a better life for his children.
Shrishila survived famine in his village and moved to Mumbai hoping for better work prospects in megapolis 12 years ago. In search of decent shelter, he landed up in Kalwa slum community. Despite struggling with poor sanitation, overcrowding, unhygienic surroundings, and frequent illness, Shrishila found a small makeshift hutment to live in here and settled down.
Shrishila has studied only up to Class 10 and he struggled to find a steady job to meet his family’s needs. He tried his best to enrol his oldest daughter in school, and he could just about pay her school fee regularly. But by the time it was three-year-old Ratnesh’s turn to join the formal school, Shrishila had no additional finances.
With every year passing by, little Ratnesh would spend his days at home until one day, when he turned five, our community officer met Ratnesh’s parents and introduced them to free education at our Beacon Learning Centre. His parents couldn’t believe that such quality education was free of cost. They quickly enrolled Ratnesh in our classes.
That’s when generous supporters like you stepped in once again to help Ratnesh and his family with food and groceries each month. Due to the poor hygiene conditions in their slum community, Ratnesh and his siblings fell sick frequently, but in partnership with organisations such as India Bulls, Rise Against Hunger, The Breakfast Revolution etc, we were able to provide nutritious meals to families like Ratnesh over and above their monthly emergency grocery kits.
And Ratnesh’s education? Your support has enabled Ratnesh to continue his studies online, right from his home and he doesn’t fail to make his teachers proud! The best news? Our community officers were recently able to help Ratnesh’s father find a steady job.
Your generosity has enabled us to reach out to this family not just through their early difficult days, and through the pandemic’s first wave, but even when the second wave of COVID washed over them.
Thank you for your kindness and love towards families like Ratnesh’s in such unprecedented times. It is your gifts that enable parents like Ratnesh’s father to dream of a better future for his life than the one he himself has lived.
