Save The Children India (STCI) is a nonprofit organization that envisions India as a Child-Friendly Nation. It is committed to preventing the exploitation and all other forms of discrimination against vulnerable women and children, and empowering them to lead a life of dignity, self-respect, and independence.
Namita (name changed) is barely educated, having only reached Grade 4 in her short stint in school. Her husband made it till Grade 7. Their three children however were set to change the course for the family, with all three enrolled in school and their parents determined that they should at least see them through their secondary education. But with no paid work over the past six months, their dream is now stands blurred and their determination dented. Namita has worked as a domestic help, and her husband is a daily wage labourer. Their savings ran out within a couple of months and since then the only thing
they have only managed to do is scrape enough together for a meal or two every day.
It is no surprise that the children don’t have access to education anymore. The only way right now to continue their education would be online, accessed through a phone. The family has none. There are so many such families in our own cities and neighbourhoods. Food, a smart phone, access to medicine and health services - things that are part of our everyday life have become even more inaccessible for them now,after 1 year into a lockdown. With public services slow to start, daily wage opportunities being too far and few in between, more of the urban disadvantaged now rely on contributions from people like you so that STCI, which can reach out to them with grocery kits, education programmes and enable skilling programmes where possible so, that can help people can find paid work.
Supporting STCI enables us to reach out to families like Namita’s, to ensure their dreams of better lives for their children are supported.
Shabana, a zestful, euphoric girl from Ghatkopar happens to be the eldest child in a family of 7 siblings. Shabana had the opportunity to attend school till VIIIth grade, however post that she had to discontinue her studies because of an inevitable financial crunch that her family faced. Shabana happily gave up all her desires of pursuing further education and soaring high for the sake of her family.
However, destiny had some more troubles in store for her. Since shabana was confined to the walls of her home she easily got tricked by her uncle who under the garb of buying a dress for her forcefully brought her to Gujarat. This marked the onset of 3 long dark years with no sliver of hope. To top it all, her uncle abused her physically, tortured her mentally and exploited her emotionally. Nevertheless, after years of relentless struggles, the fighter in her finally managed to escape the clutches of her uncle.
Life finally took a positive turn for Shabana after she met a kind hearted soul who not just helped her navigate through the choppy waters but also went the extra mile to reunite her with her family in ghatkopar. Upon reaching Ghatkopar, Shabana opened up about her horrendous experiences and plucked up her courage to lodge a police complaint against her uncle.
Seeing Shabana’s life struggles, STCI pitched in and wanted to extend help that could ease her life in some way. We at STCI left no stone unturned and ever since there has been no looking back. The power of perseverance helped Shabana sail through difficult times and these challenging times helped her get stronger in her resolve to persue her dreams. Shabana became a part of Sahas Kendra, where she had the opportunity to fulfill her dreams and resume her education. With the help of teachers at Sahas Kendra and her own tireless efforts, Shabana passed her SSC 10th Standard with flying colors. This initial success acted as a stepping stone that gave her the confidence and motivation to achieve much more in life. With renewed vigour she then geared up for her XIIth boards too. With the help of STCI, She got herself enrolled in SNDT College for FYJC from Arts stream. She regularly attended the college and visited Sahas Kendra everyday where she completed her college homework, got all her doubts clarified and studied with full zest .
Team STCI supported Shabana in every possible capacity from supporting her with tution / college fees to filling up exam forms and even family counseling and home visits to convince her parents to let her sit for the exam. With steady support received from STCI Shabana burned the midnight oil and staved off any challenges that came her way. Ultimately all her hard work has paid off as she recently passed her XIIth board exam in the year 2019-2020 with wonderful grades.
Apart from studies Shabana has also nurtured her hobby of sewing by pursuing a tailoring course at Sahas Kendra. She finds her true passion in tailoring and thus aspires to be a top notch fashion designer one day.
With support from donors like yourself, we can help thousands of such girls end the cycle of poverty and violence.
