To celebrate our more than 40 years of service, we are sharing 40 of our beneficiaries’ powerful stories with you — stories of hope, compassion, and determination. We hope these stories inspire you as much as they inspire us.
Pooja Chandu Rathod, a brilliant 8th-grade student with aspirations to become a teacher, lives in a cramped single room with six other family members. Her father is a painter and cannot work during the monsoon season, and Pooja’s mother left when she was very young. Read more
Manju is a nurse at Sree Balaji Medical College and hospital in Channai who works tirelessly to help vulnerable patients get the care they need. Her father is an agricultural farmer, earning just Rs. 6,000 per month, so growing up, Manju struggled to afford books and other items required for school. Read more
Tejal is a determined woman living in the Kada Village in Gujarat. She graduated from college with many ambitions, but marriage and children prevented her from finding full-time employment. The pandemic only exacerbated these hardships. Read more
Mercy Kom, 58, resides in Kharam Thadoi, a remote village in Manipur. She suffered from diabetes and hypertension, and due to the lack of healthcare infrastructure in her village, she had received no treatment for these issues. Read more
Sakhiya Yagnik Pravinbhai, from Surat, was able to pursue a degree in Technology using Educate 2 Graduate scholarship funds administered through Higher Education Support Trust. Read more
Juguntara is the eldest of three children in her family living in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Her father left when she was in 10th grade. With the help of her uncles, she was able to complete her intermediate studies, but since it was her responsibility to manage the household expenses, there was no hope for schooling beyond that. Read more
Mayuri Kaushik Kumar Rawal is a bright, ambitious 8th-grade student in Mumbai. Her father is the sole earner for her family of six, and as a florist making just Rs. 36,000 per year, he struggles to cover basic living expenses, leaving no room in the family’s budget for school fees. Read more