Send daughter of Mumbai sex worker to US college!

Hello! I hope all of you are well and that you and a wonderful, fun-filled Halloween! Normally I try to write you all with my exciting, fun, interesting accomplishments. But I’m sorry that today I’m writing with some big struggles. Actually this report is a couple days late because I tried to delay this as much as possible….but….here it is!

I was supposed to go back to university in August, but due to two things, it became obvious in July that there will be some problems. First, Kranti was unable to raise the amount I needed to pay for Spring 2018, so we hadn’t even started fundraising for Fall 2018. But I was still hoping for some big miracle. Also, I really wanted to transfer to another college, a little because of I wanted to be in a more rigorous study environment and, of course, cheaper tuition!

After lots of research, I found a college in Chicago that gave me a big scholarship. But I still needed my transcript from last semester, which they wouldn’t release until we paid the fees! For a couple weeks, I felt so helpless and anxious because everything seemed beyond my control. I was disappointed when I realized I wouldn’t go back this term, and I took a lot of time to reflect about what it means to live on donations - for everything from basic food to college tuition.

However, living on donations can also be amazing. There was one wonderful man who heard about my situation and he agreed to pay my entire bill from Spring 2018!! I don’t even know how or why this person appeared in my life, but I know that I owe him a LOT!!! Everything is sorted now, and more than half my fees for next semester have been raised. I’ve realized, after a couple weeks of lots of crying, that usually things work out the way they’re supposed to. :)

Now I’ve also had three extra months to practice essay writing, work on my reading comprehension, master MLA and APA formats for research papers. In January I’m starting at a college with a bigger scholarship, a more diverse student population, and a big city - Chicago! In 2015, we performed our Kranti play, Lal Batti Express, in Chicago and received lots of support from the people there...I felt really welcomed and am excited to return. I would love to be in the midst of such a friendly and vibrant city.

There it is...my most difficult GG update I’ve ever written. Thank you all of your ongoing support and faith in me!! Hopefully, one day I will be a psychologist and I can help girls like me to overcome their struggle through therapy, which as you probably know, changed my life. And I promise you I will do everything possible to pay forward everything all of you have done for me. (Even in Chicago I am already applying to volunteer with either sex workers or homeless people.)

Thank you so, so, SO very much for reading. And for being part of my support system for over a year now. Since I don’t know most of you, I sometimes feel like some magical fairies are helping me. :P I do hope I have the chance to meet you someday. Thank you so much for taking care of me in so many different ways. Please know I think of you and thank you almost daily!

Love,
Danish

P.S. One other thing I've been doing is managing Kranti's social media....if you don't follow the Kranti FB, please do so! :)