Two and a half year old Uma Shivanthi is a student in Sahaara’s balwadi in Dharavi. Her father, Arun Murugan, is a driver, and mother, Selvi, is a housewife. Uma has one elder brother as well. The family income is barely enough to make both ends meet.

Sahaara’s balwadi is situated near Uma’s house and this is a boon to Uma because majority of slum children are deprived of quality and accessible 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.

Uma loves to attend the balwadi as apart from studies, there are several playtime activities to engage the children as well. Uma is a live wire who is energetic and lively in class! She loves listening to stories and performing action songs. She thoroughly enjoys physical activities like running and hopping. She loves to dress up and enjoys learning nursery rhymes!

Your generous donations, Yann (x3) and Ryan,  will enable Sahaara to provide an entire year of education to Uma, thereby ensuring that she has the opportunity to a stable future!

Thank you, for your support of Uma!

Three year old Shreya lies in Dharavi, the largest slum community in India. Her father, Anand Ashappa is a helper in a jewellery store and her mother, Anita, is a domestic help. Shreya has one elder brother as well. The family is poor and struggles to make ends meet, and they find it very difficult to cope with medical emergencies.

Since both her parents lack education, and there are few educational institutions in the area, quality education would have remained a pipe dream for her, if not for the balwadi (pre-primary education centre) run by Sahaara Charitable Society in her locality.

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.

Shreya is a bright child who is good in academics. She is a quiet child but has a hunger for learning more and more from the teachers. She enjoys learning nursery rhymes and loves to help out the teacher. She is a very sensitive child and enjoys playing with her toys. She is always very neatly dressed and has got a very good sense of hygiene. She loves to draw pictures and thoroughly enjoys physical activities like running and hopping!

Your generous donations, Paris and Yann (x 3) will ensure that Shreya can attend school for an entire year.

Thank you for coming together in support of Shreya and motivating her to do well in life!

Daughters of women in prostitution live in severe physical and psychological danger. Perishing in hunger, neglect, illiteracy and hopelessness, these daughters long for the day their childhood would be theirs again.

Seven year old Payal’s mother was a victim of the sex trade and worked in Turbhe red light area in Mumbai. Sahaara staff knew Payal’s mother since 2008. Payal was a student in the Sahaara balwadi as well. With counsel, Payal’s mother decided to admit her to Anandalay for a better and safer future. Anandalay (Home of Joy) is a shelter home run by Sahaara, for daughters of trafficked women. Anandalay houses these children who are brought up by house-parents, in a loving and conducive family environment. Payal was welcomed into Anandalay on 1st April 2009.

Initially when she came in, Payal hailing from an environment of violence and abuse in the red light and unfamiliar with a family environment was very aggressive in her language and did not show respect to others. The houseparents engaged with her, assured her with love ad instructed her in good behaviour. Observing the other children and heeding the guidance, Payal began to mature in her social skills. Payal is now respectful and loving in speech and conduct with the other children in the home and her houseparents.

Currently she is enrolled in Sr. K.G. in one of the top schools in the locality (St. Xaviers’ School, Airoli, a branch of Ryan Schools). Ryan Schools has strength of students of nearly 200,000 children with a nationwide spread, guided by eight thousand educators focussing on child-centered qualitative learning. The syllabus covers English (alphabet recognition, reading, writing, and sentence formation), numeracy, activities, extracurricular activities such as sports, craft and drawing etc

Payal is academically strong and scores above 90% in her subjects. She is confident in skills like writing and communication. She particularly enjoys football and athletics. She was selected for the school hockey, football and the school march past team as well!

She feels at home in Anandalay and loves to help the other children in catching up on their studies. She is very sharing in nature and is proactive in helping the houseparents.

Your generous donations, Max and Devang, will ensure that Payal continues attending school and honing her talents, thereby paving the way towards a self-reliant and bright future!

Thank you, for ensuring that Payal has a bright future ahead of her.

In 1999, Joshua, a seven year old boy, from a family in Mumbai slum was left destitute due to family tragedies. Mahima Home took him into their full-time care. Mahima Home is Sahaara§s initiative to rehabilitate hitherto orphan and semi orphan boys – children of terminally ill parent(s).  Here, Joshua is looked after by house parents and a maid, who help him develop holistically through a family environment. He also enjoys wholesome food, excellent accommodation and access to English medium education at Don Bosco School, one of the most prestigious English medium schools in the locality.

With medicines, supplements and wholesome meals, Joshua’s health picked up well! The nutrition-rich diet at Mahima Home provides him, in his crucial growing years, the much needed carbohydrates, vitamins, calcium, minerals, dietary fiber and protein inputs.

Being the eldest in the family, Joshua was accustomed to shouldering the responsibility of taking care of his younger siblings. But at Mahima, house parents lavished love and attention on him and he could become a child again.

Joshua’s leadership skills surfaced when he was selected Captain of primary school (Grades I To IV). Again, in his X grade, he was chosen Captain of the entire school!  Joshua has also represented his school in football in all the levels (right from 10 years to 16 years). He has given on-stage performances playing the electronic keyboard and has enjoyed playing lead roles in a couple of school plays.

Joshua is also good in athletics and won the coveted Championship Award in 2008-2009 as well! Championship Award is given to participants who score highest prizes across multiple athletic events. As a fitting crown to his achievements, he went on to win the Best Student Award in 2008-09!

It’s amazing to see the change in his whole life over the past years – and it§s not over! Our joy overflowed when he successfully cleared his 10th standard examinations with 78% and has gained admission into the 11^th grade entering Junior College!

Your generous donation, Max, will enable Sahaara to provide three nutritious meals to Joshua for three months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in school.

Thank you for supporting Joshua!

Jeevan, the sixteen year old teenager, is impressively versatile: An excellent football player who plays for his school team as a defender. A talented musician  skilled at playing the piano. A treasure trove of  artistic potential as a skilled painter. A passionate singer. An energetic runner. A hardworking student who does well in school.

At first glance, his versatility would belie the background from which he hails. Jeevan is one of the boys whose life has been changed through  Mahima Home.

Mahima Children’s Home, run by Sahaara Charitable Society, cares for homeless and desolate street and slum children. Started in July 1999 with just two boys, the home today is a haven for 13 boys between 6 and 18 years of age, all either parentless children or children with terminally ill parents or children of trafficked women unable to care for them.

Mahima provides these children with more than just their basic needs: Educated at English medium schools, the energetic and talented boys actively participate and shine in sports and other extra-curricular activities.

Here, Jeevan receives English medium schooling in one of the top schools in the locality,  quality accommodation and wholesome nutrition within a loving family environment afforded by dedicated  houseparents.

Jeevan has blossomed into a secure child, confident in himself and looking forward to a bright future!

Your generous donations, Pooja, Kandace and Max, will enable Sahaara to provide three fresh and nutritious meals to Jeevan for three months, thereby ensuring that he remains healthy and continues doing well in his studies.

Thank you for  coming together in support of  Jeevan!

Five year old Samreen hails from Govandi, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai. Her father, Tariq Shaikh, works as a zari worker and her mother, Kahakasharubi Shaikh, is a housewife, Samreen has five siblings as well. Though her father is illiterate and mother has not studied beyond the fifth grade, Samreen can dream of a stable future with a good education.

Samreen studies at the Govandi study center, run by Sahaara. She  has always been eager to attend the study center and prefers it to staying at home. She particularly enjoys hearing stories and pays rapt attention to the characters being unfolded in the story! She is very active during playtime and is a keen student as well. To any first time visitor, Samreen’s confident and intelligent talkativeness would belie her background and family’s poverty.

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 Samreen get a start which will help her break out of the poverty cycle.

Your generous donations,  will enable Sahaara to provide a of pre-primary education to Samreen.

Thank you so much for gifting a dream to a vulnerable child like Samreen, thereby paving the way to a self-reliant and brighter future!

Four and a half year old Nagma Begum Shaikh is one of five children. Her family hails from Bellampur Zilla, Uttarowla. Her father, Akbar Ramzan Ali Shaikh, works as a PUP worker and her mother, Jahira Begum, is a housewife. They are a family of seven that includes Nagma, her two sisters,  two brothers and parents.

Nagma hails from Govandi, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai. Her father is illiterate and her mother has not studied beyond the fifth grade.

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

Nagma is a keen and enthusiastic student who has always been eager to attend the study center. She has excellent grasping and recall skills. She thoroughly enjoys her time at the balwadi, because apart from studies, there are several playtime activities to engage the children as well. Nagma loves to entertain an audience with her unique mimicry skills and keeps the teachers and students rolling in laughter! Nagma insists on coming to the balwadi even when sick and it takes a lot to keep her away from the classes. To any first time visitor, Nagma’s innocent smile, confidence while interacting with other children would belie her background and family’s poverty.

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. Nagma, for instance, aspires to be a teacher when she grows up. Sahaara’s early childhood education program gives children like Nagma, get a start which will help her break out of the poverty cycle and her dream can become her reality.

Your generous donations, Anita and Dara,  will enable Sahaara to provide a year of pre-primary education to Nagma.

Thank you so much for your priceless gift to Nagma!

Three year old Liaba lives in the Gowandi slum community in Mumbai. Her father, Kamaluddin, is a keymaker and her mother, Mehjabin, is a housewife. Liaba has a two siblings as well. The family hails from Fatehpur, UP. The family is poor and struggles to make ends meet, and they find it very difficult to cope with medical emergencies. Despite their poor economic condition, Liaba’s parents realize the value of a good education, and they have enrolled Liaba in the balwadi run by Sahaara in their slum, and ensure that she goes to school every day.

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, recognition etc

Liaba is a bright child who is good in academics and is physically very active.  She recites numbers from 1-10 and alphabets from A-L with  bubbling enthusiasm. She loves to do the actions whenever nursery rhymes are taught and also enjoys playing with her toys.

Thanks to your generous donations, Jigna, Paris, Kate and David, Liaba will be able to attend school for an entire year.

Thank you all for coming together in support of Liaba and motivating her to do well in life!

Five year old Hushna Khatum hails from Govandi, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai. Her father, Akhir Khatum Shaikh and her mother, Naseema Khatum, work as dabbawallas, Hushna has three siblings as well. Though her parents are illiterate, Hushna can dream of a stable future with a good education.

Hushna studies at the Govandi study center, run by Sahaara. She is a keen and enthusiastic student who has always been eager to attend the study center. She is very kind and is happy to share her things like colours and toys. She is bold in approaching teachers and obedient to instructions.

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 Hushna get a start which will help her break out of the poverty cycle.

Your generous donation, Johanna, will enable Sahaara to provide a of pre-primary education to Hushna.

Thank you so much for gifting a dream to a vulnerable child like Hushna, thereby paving the way to a self-reliant and brighter future!

Four year old Taufeeq is one of four children. His father, Rafiq Shaikh, is a Zari worker and his mother, Husna Begum, is a housewife. They are a family of six that includes Taufeeq,  his three elder sisters and parents. Taufeeq hails from Govandi, one of the innumerable poverty stricken slum pockets in Mumbai. Both his parents are illiterate.

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

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 Taufeeq, get a start which will help him break out of the poverty cycle and fulfill his dream of a stable future.

Your generous donation, Leigh,  will enable Sahaara to provide a year of pre-primary education to Taufeeq.

Thank you so much, Leigh, for your gift to Taufeeq!