Success Story

Anita for Education!

Hie , Good Morning, My name is Anita , I live in Jhalana slum of Jaipur (Rajasthan) . I am 18 years old and I have never attended school before this and I had lost my hope to join school. My family never wanted me to go to school and there was no school nearby either. I always wanted to go to school and study but this was no option. I just stayed at home doing nothing, wasting my time, while I saw other children going to school. I felt very bad and thought ‘why can’t I go?’.
I have always felt very shy, as at this age I could not read or write, even my own name, and I can not go to the shop to buy anything as I was not able to count money .
But one day, an uncle told me about the First Steps Academy from Rural Connextion Foundation, where I can go and study, free of cost. I went along with him and got admission. The first few days were very hard for me, it was something very new, and I was the eldest student in the school, but I was enjoying this new experience and this new start.
Now it has only been 10 months that I regularly go to school and I am really enjoying studying. I have learnt a lot of things by now; I can write, read, count and I also know a little bit of English too. I can now read the newspaper, go to shop without any hesitation and talk to others without being shy. Apart from studying I also joined the sewing course and extraordinary sessions that has also helped me alot. I want to continue studying and become a teacher so that I can teach to many other girls who are left behind from their education. After the school hours in the morning, I already teach around 20 children near to my home. Now, I am also monitor (President) of the school. I really feel very great, proud and happy about this. In the house also everyone has started to respect me.
I really like to thank everyone who has made it possible for me by giving new opportunity and new life. Many thanks..!!

Seema for Education!

Namste!
My name is Seema. I am 28 years old. I live in Lal Khan, Kunda Basti (slum) Jaipur. I wanted to get education since my childhood but that time our situation was not good,because my father passed away at an early age due to illness. Therefore, I could not go to school. My mother was only one to take care of the entire family. My mother had a labor job, she was earning just a little bit, trying to be able to feed us. We are with six sisters and one brother; all of us were just staying at home. And our mother was the only one responsible for us.
We could not even think of going to school because all other basic and important things like. food to eat, clothes to wear etc. were also not available.
But I really wanted to study and do something in my life. I got married when I was 10 years old. Today, I am 28 years old and have three children. My husbands name is Shree Kallu Ram. He is also illiterate and he can neither read nor write. He does daily labor work with which he earns 3000 rupees’ ($ 50 USD) a month. With this money we are barely able to survive properly and due to this we are unable to send our children to school.
Mostly we were only able to get food once a day because our situation is so bad that we did not have money to buy food. But I also wanted to study and to become self-reliant, that I could run my family and household. When, I got to know about the First Steps Academy run by Rural Connextion Foundation in our slum I was very happy to get a chance once again to fulfill my dream and to study.
Therefore I came to the school and got admission along with my three kids. It has been now 3 months I am coming to the school every day. Because of going every day, I can now read and write easily. In these three months I learnt a lot and I want to continue studying so that I am able to improve the condition of my family. Now the four of us (my three children and I) come to the school regularly.
I am really very thankful to all the people/staff of Rural ConneXtion Foundation! And I want to say that more children and women should get this opportunity to study.
Thank you!
Seema Devi

Gungun for Education!

My name is Gungun, I study in the second class. My fathers name is Mr. Narendra Kumar and my mother’s name is Mrs. Babita Devi, I have 4 sisters and 1 brother. I belong to a very poor family.
I often got sick and my parents thought that this disease came from the school, so they stopped sending me to school. They always said to me that we already don’t have enough money to feed us, so where do we get the money from to check your health and buy medicines? But when one of the teachers came to my house during the survey and explained the importance of education to my parents, they agreed to send me to school. I go school after completing all the household work and I go to school daily because I love to study and I am also interested in singing. I take part in events held at schools and I want to become a singer when I am older.

Kiran for Education!

Kiran is 12 years old and she lives on the roadside in a tent with her parents, her two younger sisters two brothers and her grandmother. Kiran has many responsibilities at home; she takes care of her sisters and baby brother, cooks, washes clothes and does other house work.
Kiran studies in FSA since 2 years now. In the beginning, she often arrived late because she had to finish her duties first. It was difficult for her to be disciplined and focus on her studies, because she had been dropped out of school for a long time and she was not very motivated to study. She often ran away after the break and did not come back until the next day.
But Kiran became very helpful and responsible; she always wants to serve the food and stays late to wash the utensils and to clean the school.
She is also very talented, she loves dancing, singing, playing music and painting. She always wants to perform in extraordinary sessions and RCF events. She participates very actively in our music and singing class and progresses a lot.
In FSA, teachers encourage the children to develop their talents and teach them how to use them in a proper way. Through music, dance and art, the students can express themselves and learn about their body, discipline and maths. They also develop their confidence, motoric skills and creativity. Art helps the children to concentrate on their studies and give them joy and motivation to study.
Kiran, like most students from FSA, lives in extreme poverty and has to contribute to the family’s income, either by picking garbage or by begging. On top of that she has to help with the work in the house and taking care of her brothers and sisters, like many other girls. In this way these girls become adults way before their time. Due to their conditions they don’t have any childhood. This is why FSA offers those children a safe environment where they can develop their knowledge and can forget about their responsibilities and simply be kids for a few hours.

Kartihk

Kartihk is 6 years old and he lives in Lal Khan basti with his father. His mum died a few years ago. His father drinks a lot and does not care about his son.
Kartihk studies in the first class of our “ satellite”, in the beginning he was always sad, passive and distracted.
He used to have food only a few times a week, as his father spends almost all his money on alcohol. Kartihk never had a real meal before, he ate what he found while collecting garbage, what he begged or whatever he could find. When we first started with the food program, he ate so much, that we thought he would get sick. By giving him his fifth chapatti, I realised how hungry he must have been during all this years.
Now that Karthik gets food everyday in school, he is happier, more active and can concentrate more on his studies. Before he was always sitting in the corner doing nothing. Now he starts to participate in the class, and in the break he plays with the others. He comes on time almost every day and helps cleaning the school.

Radhika

This is Radhika and she is 19 years old. Radhika used to spend a lot of time watching TV and talking with her mother. She did not want to go out much. When her mother heard of sewing course she took her there. In the beginning Radhika did not talk much and was very closed. Right now she loves to sew and does it all day and all night, as she has her own machine at home. She sews clothes for other women and for herself. She now earns 8000 to 12000 rs. per month. Her family is very proud of her and Radhika herself is very happy and full of energy. Her dream is to become a designer and to open her own shop. She is also one of the girls who motivates others to go to the course to get more confidence and skills that can change their lives.

Banti Devi

Hello! My name is Banti Devi, I am 26 years old and I have three children: Vishal, Muskan and Aman. I want to offer them the best education, as I did not have this chance when I was little. I was the youngest of the four siblings, 2 boys and two girls. My parents knew that school was important and struggled to send us to school even though we were very poor. They did not know that school would mean a torture for us Rich children were making fun of us and the teacher beated us with no reason and made us feel ashamed because of our poverty. Finding themselves in front of this situation, my parents were forced to take us out of school. So, I stayed at home together with my siblings, while still dreaming of a school where there were nice teachers who would show me the letters and numbers. When I was 10, my parents found a good husband for me whose name was Raju and we got married. A new life began for me, with me taking care of a household and a new family on my own.
The years were passing by and I gave birth to three lovely children, but I still kept the image of a nice school in my mind, where I could learn to read and write. But, slowly, I lost that dream.
As the time passed by, my children were growing and so their needs grew. The money that my husband earned, Raju who was working as an ambulance driver for a private hospital, was not even enough to cook two meals per day, and I had to do something about it. I was looking for a daily job as a cleaner and luck seemed to smile at me. I got a job as a cleaner in a hospital, earning 2500 INR per month. It might not seem a lot, but this was a fortune for us, as with this extra money, we could manage to live a decent life. But, after only 6 months, I got fired because of my illiteracy. My dream to go to school came back in my mind and it became a must. I got aware that I could not help my family if I was not able to read and write. But there was no school for me to go to, and I could not do anything about it. I felt helpless while looking at my children who did not even dare to tell me that they were hungry.
But, there is always a ray of light, even when we lost our hope. We just have to open our eyes to look for it. Some months have passed and I got used to taking care of my poor household and picking the medical waste from the hospital where I was formerly working to get some extra money. I was going there two times per week, Monday and Thursday, together with my neighbor, Seema, after my husband left for his work. This was our secret. I did not tell to my husband, as I knew that he would not accept it and he would feel like he failed to be a good husband. One Monday, I went there and I saw that Seema was missing. The same happened the following Thursday. Then, I took my courage and went to Seema’s house. Nobody knew that we were friends. Here, in the slum, people do not talk to each other. They do not understand friendship and they feel threatened when they see two people greeting one another or shaking hands. I went to her home and asked her why she was not there on Monday and Thursday to sort the waste. Then, she told me that her sister-in-law took her to a woman literacy class organized last Friday and she did not have to pay anything for it. I asked her more about it I found out about Rural Connextion Foundation and the woman literacy course. The following day, I went together with Seema to this school. I asked the teacher how I could get enrolled and if I could come with my children. From then on, I came together with my children to this school. I did not care that women from the slum were teasing me that it was useless to go to school, and I worked very hard. At the beginning, I felt that I would never understand those signs that teachers were drawing with the chalk, but slowly, slowly, they made sense to me. Three months have passed and I was already able to read and write. Then, I went back to the same hospital and tell them that I knew how to read and write and I could also count. I got employed as a ward girl and got a salary of 5500 INR and the tips.
I know that I only got this job again because of this literacy classes. Now I can count and read, I can read each file and I feel happy and proud. When those women who were teasing me before see me in the hospital uniform, they ask me to help them to get the same job.
I am happy that my children now have good food and go to school. For all of this I thank Rural Connextion Foundation.

Shilpi

This is Shilpi and she is 35 years old. She used to be very shy and was afraid of going out to the market on her own, so she was doing nothing apart from staying at home. Her husband encouraged her to go to the sewing course and literacy classes, which he heard from during the survey of our teachers.

When Shilphi finished the three months of sewing along with the literacy course she changed a lot. Now she opened her shop and is way more confident, she is happier and became an independent women. Shipli now runs her shop and earns a regular monthly income from on average 1200 – 20000 Rs. This compared to staying at home, doing nothing and earning nothing, being completely depend on her husband. But right now she is a very proud, happy and independent women.

Shipli says, that she had never thought that she would ever have her own shop or be able to count money like this. To me this came as a miracle! I had no hope that I would get a change of learning on this age. This was a wonderful opportunity! Rural ConneXtion Foundation has given me a new life, full of pride and happiness. I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for giving this to me! Thank you!

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