Vidya Mandir School
Sujatha
Sujata lost both her parents in childhood. She was under the guidance of her grandfather for few years. After his demise, the family doomed into poverty. She is good at academics and is an exceptional dancer.
Sushmita
Sushmita has both her parents but her mother is often sick. In spite of all the hardships she faces at home, she is among the highly performing students in academics. She is involved in games and sports.
“We believe that providing free value based education to the underprivileged that gives them an opportunity to excel and become future leaders and change makers”
Pooja lives in the squalid slums of the city of Hyderabad with her widowed mother and six brothers and sisters. Her community is infamous for thieves and goons, drunkards and abusers. The eldest of a family of six, she supports her widowed mother in the daily chores as well as outdoors. She accompanies her to work as a daily wage laborer in a small scale industry. They struggle to make ends meet and provide one square meal for the family.
When we met Pooja, we could not allow her to be a victim of her circumstances. We wanted to give her a chance to dream, believe and achieve. Adamant in our pursuit of transforming her life, we started a neighborhood school where she could learn, play and be a child again. But Pooja was a child labor. To enroll her in school meant pulling her out of work – a luxury her family could not afford. To start with, we provided Pooja a free midday meal on attending school. She was malnourished and weak and needed to be healthy. We also designed a specialized curriculum of value based education complemented by vocational training. This would ensure that Pooja would be educated and employable when she graduates school. The women in the community were also trained and placed in better jobs.
However, Pooja would still be late and irregular to school. On probing the matter we found out that Pooja’s neighborhood had no supply of clean drinking water and that they had to wait in a queue every other day to fill up water from a tanker on wheels. To get Pooja in class on time, we walked into the community and talked to the local authorities bringing this issue into their purview. After what seemed like an endless struggle, we got water running in the pipes of every household in the community. Just when we thought it was over, Lo and Behold the next hurdle was here. As bright and brilliant as she was in class, Pooja would never complete her homework. The slum had no electricity, making it impossible to study. Yet again, we lit up her home and future, by installing low-cost meters in every nook and corner.
Months passed by and time flew, each day Pooja was learning something new at school. One unfortunate day, destiny took Pooja’s mother by a heart attack thus leaving Pooja and her siblings orphaned. Even relatives turned their back on the poor children. To provide a safe environment for them, we started an orphanage that slowly expanded to including old destitute women and middle aged ladies who were divorced, widowers or been abused. They were made to feel like home and were take care of with utmost love and affection. Pooja grew to study nursing and became the best in her field. She not only took care of her siblings but also the people in the home.
Pooja is the story of every child in the slums of the city. And ‘Sai Seva Sangh’ is the story of how a group of individuals took one step at a time towards the holistic development of the individual and society. To ensure that inclusive growth happens in the true sense of the word, we’ve also opened our own home for the differently abled. This home provides an opportunity for the special children to utilize their talents and intelligence with the proper training and guidance. Today, these children excel in vocational jobs such as screen printing, book binding and data entry.
We believe that sustenance of such an educational institution filled with motherly love and warmth is crucial in today’s modern world. This holistic well-being initiative can aid in shaping the young minds in a morally right track abandoning the trail of goons and thieves. Together we can ensure that every child is given the basic education and an opportunity to work towards their dreams.
The future lies in your hands, your donation can make a difference in making it a secure and happy one. To keep our efforts in swing and help us transform more lives and fulfill new dreams, we need your support in this journey of impact. Together, we can guide all the Pooja’s out there and help them achieve success soaring sky high!
Thank you.