Educate Her, Make Her Independent

Two sisters' resilient journey towards education

This is the story of two sisters, Nazia* and Sadia*, living in a small village in the Bhadohi District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Their father is a daily wage labourer who lives in Mumbai to earn a living for his family and their mother suffers from a mental illness, restricting her to their house in the village. They have a younger brother who is six years old. This small family is predominantly cared for by Nazia and Sadia even though they are not more than eight and nine-years-old themselves. All the responsibilities of the house and the care of their brother and mother fall on the two daughters. Nazia is the eldest of the siblings and Sadia is a year younger than her. Neither of the girls had ever been to school before.

All this was discovered by Renu, an Educate Girls’ Team Balika volunteer, when she was conducting a door-to-door survey in the village to identify girls not going to school along with the organisation’s Field Coordinator. Renu says, “When I went to Nazia and Sadia's house, the first person I met was their mother. When I spoke to her, I realised that she was in no condition to give me any information about the girls. Then I talked to Nazia and Sadia, and I asked them if there was any other grown-up living with them like a grandparent or an aunt or uncle. That was when Nazia told me that their father lived in Mumbai and that her grandparents do not live with them. Their situation was heartbreaking."

Here were two very young girls who were taking on the responsibilities of adults, running an entire household and taking care of the family members all on their own. Renu asked Nazia and Sadia if they wanted to study and go to school. They said they wanted to study but no one in the extended family helps them because of their mother’s condition. Their mother cannot go to school with them and their father is never available to fill out the necessary paperwork to enrol them. They were also under the impression that they needed money to get enrolled and they couldn’t afford it. “We don't even have any documents. Who will help us?" says Nazia.

Their plight made her very emotional. She couldn’t believe how alone and vulnerable the girls were. She made the decision to do whatever it took to get them enrolled in school. She met Manikchand, the Principal of the village school. He was informed about the family’s condition. Then he told Renu, “Bring the children to school. We will enrol them only after meeting them”. Due to the non-completion of the documents that Nazia and Sadia needed to get enrolled, they faced a few challenges. Renu then met Monish, a village influencer to get his cooperation to complete the documentation process. His help led to the enrolment of Nazia and Sadia in the school and they were finally enrolled in school!

Today, Nazia and Sadia complete all their household chores and then head to school. They don’t miss a single day of school. Both sisters are eager to learn everything that they can and dream of growing up to become teachers so that they can provide an education to underprivileged children.

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