Salma, the ever smiling child!

Four year old Salma Sheikh hails from Reay Road, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai. Her father, Suleiman, is a taxi driver and her mother, Shabana, is a housewife. She has two brothers and one sister as well! Both her parents are illiterate. The family income is barely enough to make both ends meet.

Children like Salma, from Mumbai slums, face educational deprivation in terms of generational illiteracy, physical access to education and quality of education as well. Though Salma 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 Salma’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 (colors, animals, flowers, personal hygiene etc), colouring, games and activities such as counting and recognition.

Salma is a quiet child and has a hunger for learning more and more from the teachers. She loves to smile but is reserved and so usually is shy to take part in group activities.

Your generous donation, Vinayak, will enable Sahaara to provide a year of pre-primary education to Salma. Thank you for your generosity.