Aarti

The smart and confident young lady at the OPD, managing the patients efficiently with a smile, is Aarti, the ENT coordinator at the prestigious Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj, Delhi. It has taken a lot of determination for her to reach where she is today. When she was a child, unable to sustain themselves, her family migrated from Uttarakhand to Delhi in search of livelihood. It was a dismal time for the family till her father managed a job as a driver, but his income was not enough, and the family continued to grapple with poverty.

Aarti was determined to access a better life and she understood the importance of education to reach her goal. She started her education in Sshrishti’s Learning Centre for the Early Years in her neighbourhood in Kishangarh and later moved on to the local government school. But after school hours she continued to learn English and life skills at Sshrishti. Thanks to that training, today she is a poised young lady, fluent in English. She gets emotional talking about all that she has learnt from Sshrishti and thanks Sshrishti for the satisfying career she has today and being able to provide some comfort to her family.

Ashrafful

This mischievous six year old is a bright spark amidst the squalor of the rag pickers colony – Jai Hind Camp in South Delhi.

Ashraful’s family migrated from a village in Bengal when he was just a baby. The family’s hope of attaining a decent livelihood in the city remains just a dream. His father works as a street vendor and mother a domestic help in affluent homes surrounding their colony. The money they earn is insufficient to feed and educate their children.

Sshrishti has taken young Ashraful under its wing, providing him with quality education for the early years and a chance to enjoy a normal childhood. He is a bright and eager learner, taking interest in all extracurricular activities offered at the centre.

We hope Ashraful will grow up and finally achieve the family’s dream of living a life of dignity in the city and saving enough to someday go back to their village and rebuild their ancestral home.

Rehana Khatun

She is busy at the payment counter of Big Bazaar, a large departmental store in South Delhi, cool, composed and efficient. Rehana has come a long way from the scrawny, shy girl who had joined Sshrishti Learning Centre in 2004. Like many others from their village in Bihar, her family had migrated to Delhi with the hope of a better life and settled in Kishangarh, a low-income colony in Delhi.

Rehana worked hard at her studies and having received a solid foundation for the early years at the Sshrishti Learning Centre, finished her schooling from the local government school. Even when she was in the government school, Rehana continued to avail of the remedial education classes offered by Sshrishti after the school hours.

Thereafter, she secured the job as a cashier at the departmental store. For Rehana this is just the first step, she continues her education through the distant learning programme of the Delhi University. She hopes to graduate in two years and improve her career prospects.

We at Sshrishti are cheering for this dynamic girl.