By Vandana Sinha | Program Director
Dear Friends,
Gokila was born in abject poverty to a maid and water supplier living in one of the largest slums in New Delhi. She lives in miserable conditions with her family of four in a small room which served both as a kitchen and bedroom. There is no place for study. This led to her becoming depressed with scoring low grades in her school.
Her parents, crumbling under a mound of debt were about to pull her out from school and put her to work as a child labourer. They were under tremendous pressure from the money lenders who were forcing them to send their daughter to work at the tender age of 9 years.
That's when Prajna Foundation intervened. Thanks to donors like you, we supported her family and helped her with the remedial tuitions, computer access and school supplies to continue her studies. She made remarkable improvement in no time and went on to score the highest marks in her school to get admission in the prestigious Sri Venkateshwara College. She is now poised to become an IAS officer.
Gokila has regained her self-esteem and confidence. She now looks forward to a successful career ahead. Besides this, she is very keen to help other children struggling and living in the slums. She has become a role model for them.
It is heartening to share that Prajna Foundation was invited by Republic TV & TATA Trust at the launch episode of their campaign ‘I for India’ highlighting life and impact of Change Makers in India. We got an opportunity to share Gokila’s touching story wherein the beneficiary became the change maker herself. She has reversed her situation and won over the challenges. She received thunderous applause from the audience. Shikha Srivastava of Tata Trust, has offered to make her the Brand Ambassador for slum children.
Prajna Foundation takes pride in transforming the lives of hundreds of such children like Gokila. But the task is far from over. There are still over 21,000 girls in Delhi who have no access to education. Another 56,000 drop out every year due to lack of financial support.
We need more people like you to join us and support our mission to lift their families out of poverty with the power of education. We request you to kindly share our good work with your friends and family and encourage them to become a supporter like you.
We sincerely thank all our donors and volunteers for their continued support.
Gratefully Yours,
Vandana Sinha
Program Director
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By Marianne Drysdale | Project Leader
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