Our team at Light of Life Trust often comes across instances when parents aren’t supportive of their child’s ambitions, because they believe that it may be best not to dare to dream. But then again, we come across so many others who are the driving force behind their child’s will to succeed. Their aspirations and willingness to fight all odds put a smile on our faces, even before we can put a smile on theirs!

Behind every successful man may be a woman, but behind every successful child are parents who never gave up.

Which led us to believe in this young girl, Bushra, from a minority community in Maharashtra. She came to us seeking educational aid. Fighting societal pressures, when questioned by other community members, “What if our daughters want to follow suit?”, Bushra’s father would proudly say “Then you should be the happiest people, for this means that your little sparrow wants to spread her wings and fly.”

With a little help from Project Anando and fuelled by the desire to succeed, Bushra attended school regularly, actively participated in workshops and extra-curricular activities with her confidence growing leaps and bounds with each passing day. After clearing her SSC and HSC with flying colours, Bushra is now preparing for her third year of B.Sc. and aspires to inspire younger girls from her community to break the stereotypes and chase their dreams, too.

Mogya who belonged to a poverty-stricken tribal family from Nandurbar shares a similar past. The only ray of hope was that his parents understood the value of education and hoped to see their son graduate, someday. Not being fluent in the locally spoken, Marathi, Mogya was shy and reticent and barely attended school or Project Anando workshops. But this only encouraged us to push the envelope and counsel him better, because we saw in him, a spark to succeed, that could not be diminished. All we did was ignite that and now, years later, it fills our hearts with pride to say that Mogya is part of our very own Project Anando faculty after pursuing his B.A. (English).

Akshay from Mapgaon, Alibaug, too, found a pillar of support in his mother who worked hard to secure his future and encouraged him to achieve his goals, after his father deserted them when Akshay was all of five years. A beneficiary of Project Anando, Akshay’s hard work bore fruit when he topped his school in Class X and now dreams of becoming an IAS Officer.

At the Light of Life Trust, we believe that no influence on a child is stronger than that of their parents, ensuring that we educate not only the children but also inculcate awareness and sense of responsibility within the parents while addressing their concerns at regular parent-teacher meetings. Every time we find a Bushra or a Mogya out there, being egged on, it’s absolutely heartwarming. It assures us, that while we may form the framework of their future, their backbone, their parents, stand strong with them!