Uzma loves to sing!

Three and a half year old Uzma Sheikh hails from Reay Road, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai. Her father, Shazid Sheikh, is a tailor and her mother, Salma, works as a maid. Uzma has two brothers. Both her parents are illiterate. The family income is barely enough to make both ends meet.

Children like Uzma, from Mumbai slums, face educational deprivation in terms of generational illiteracy, physical access to education and quality of education as well. Though Uzma hails from such a disadvantaged background she can dream of a stable future with a good education because she studies at the Reay Road study center, run by Sahaara. Being close to Uzma’s house, the balwadi is a potent vehicle for transforming her future through quality education.

Sahaara’s balwadi has a systematic curriculum wherein children are equipped in the following subjects over the period of a year: English and Hindi: alphabets and poems, writing skills, general knowledge (colours, animals, flowers, personal hygiene etc), colouring, games and activities such as counting and recognition.

Uzma is a smart student who enjoys getting involved in physical activities. She is a live wire who is energetic and lively in class! She enjoys playing games and is fond of eating good food. She is a good listener and is very well organized and sociable and loves sharing things with other children. She loves to sing and has a hunger for learning more and more from teachers!

Sahaara Charitable Society believes that every person has a dream, and their work centers around ensuring that marginalized persons are able to articulate and work towards achieving their dream. Sahaara’s early childhood education program gives children like Uzma, get a start which will help her break out of the poverty cycle and fulfill her dream of a stable future.

Your generous donations, Lisa and Jayant (x3), will enable Sahaara to provide a year of pre-primary education to Uzma.

Thank you so much, Lisa and Jayant, for coming together to gift education to Uzma!