“A father to the fatherless…”
“How can I afford to send my child to school?” wondered Shafeeq’s* mother Rizwana* everyday.
A while ago, Little Shafeeq lost his father. He and his mother came to live at his maternal grandparent’s home. Rizwana tried everything that a single mother could do to ensure that her child could survive, but quality education for him was beyond her means.
Rizwana worked as a housemaid while her mother worked on daily wages. Every morning she would see children in her slum community getting ready for school but sending Shafeeq to school was still just a far-fetched dream for her.
One morning, Rizwana noticed some children in her neighbourhood with bright smiles going to classes right within her slum community. Her curiosity grew, and she went on to enquire more about it.
And that’s how she met our community officers. Rizwana couldn’t believe her ears when she heard that education at Vision Rescue’s Beacon Learning Centre is absolutely free of cost.
She immediately agreed to enrol little Shafeeq in our Beacon Learning Centre. Rizwana couldn’t be happier to see her little one do his homework, participate in class activities and enjoy attending his classes everyday.
Your gifts reached out to Shafeeq with quality education, hearty nutritious meals every weekday, stationery, uniforms, health and dental assessments, school bags and much more.
Seeing Shafeeq learn and grow, Rizwana began to attend our focus group meetings, medical camps, parents meetings and even our Community Champion meeting.
While everything was finally going well for Rizwana, India was hit by the first wave of the deadly coronavirus. Rizwana could see her entire world falling apart. A nationwide lockdown was announced in March 2020, schools, offices, public transports, everything just stood still.
Shafeeq couldn’t attend our classes anymore while Rizwana feared hunger more than the pandemic. With zero source of income, Rizwana had no option but to worry. Even getting a one square meal seemed impossible for Rizwana and her mother.
In these darkest times, your gifts were a ray of hope for Shafeeq and his family. Thank you for reaching out to them with groceries every month of the pandemic and hearty nutritious snacks for little Shafeeq.
The pandemic shifted our classes to the online mode of teaching but Shafeeq was among the 60% of India’s school going children who were left behind by the digital divide. With no smartphone, Shafeeq began to miss out on his classes. With your support, we raised an army of Education Representatives who would go to the homes of children left behind by the digital divide and teach them on their own phones.
One such Education Representative was sent to Shafeeq’s home too. Rizwana was relieved to see Shafeeq continue his studies even during the pandemic.
Your gifts reached out to Shafeeq not just with education but also awareness videos on covid, health, hygiene and dental health, tarpaulins to cover their leaking roofs in monsoon, monthly groceries, counselling over phone calls and much more.
“My child would have never stepped into a school, if not for you,” says Shafeeq’s mother.
We look forward to enrolling Shafeeq in a formal school. Thank you for your continued support in engaging little Shafeeq in education and sustaining him in it throughout the pandemic.
*Names changed to protect identity.
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Vision Rescue exists to rescue children from all forms of exploitation by engaging and sustaining them in education. We are a registered NGO for child education under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950.
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