Stories of Hope

As a young woman Aarti Devi could not understand why she was developing scaly patches on her hands and feet. She ignored the problem and after some time her hands and feet started deforming. She had leprosy and due to lack of treatment her scaly patches had aggravated. Aarti, now 45, lives in Sundarpur leprosy colony with suffering from leprosy.
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A student of Class V, Abhishek Kumar Paswan aspires to be a musician and make his father proud. Recently he was awarded the Raj Saran Varma Scholarship for excellence in English, a stellar milestone for a child who did not know how to speak English when he joined the school in 2015.
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Hailing from a small village, called Kuranda in Nagercoil, Devi, 14 joined Isha Vidhya (a unit of Isha Education) as a pre-schooler. In this short span of time, Devi and her family have been through several ups and downs. The family had dealt a severe blow in 2015, when her father, who worked for a fish-net company met with a near-fatal accident. Her father survived but was unable to work. Having a courageous mother was a boon. Devi had barely passed Class VI, yet her mother was determined to educate her children and empower them to chase their dreams. There were times they slept on an empty stomach, but she did not budge from her commitment.
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Muhammad Althwaf K is a young boy who dreams big. He comes from a modest background. With limited means, he completed his schooling from Vocational Higher Secondary School (VHSS), a Government-aided school in Panangad village, Kochi. Although he was an average student, he was hard working. His determination to study in an institution in a city, helped him do well in Class X and XII. Muhammad wanted to study further and pursue engineering. But his family could not afford it. He has two younger siblings and his family was already trying to pay off their housing loan with much difficulty. To take another loan for Muhammad’s education was next to impossible. Muhammad and his family then heard about the scholarship programme of Foundation For Excellence (FFE). Their joy knew no bounds. Muhammad bagged the scholarship and was able to pay his college fees and pursue his dreams.
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Pavan was born visually impaired. His father – a farmer – found it hard to accept his son. Pavan, thus grew up stigmatized. Pavan joined a training programme by Enable India, which helps people with disability, acquire skills that would help them in getting jobs. Initially, Pavan was very hesitant to even hold a cane and move around.He did not like to be referred as visually impaired. However, as the training progressed he started coming to terms with himself. The counselling and life skills sessions helped him change his perception about himself and how others perceive him. This helped him advocate himself better. He also pushed his boundaries by doing a volunteering project along with farmers, sorting grains, carrying loads. During the recruitment drive, he was able to crack interviews with élan. He was a different man—he talked about himself and, his disability with confidence. He even talked about how he tries to work around his disability to work effectively. Recruiters were bowled over. Pavan was shortlisted by companies like JP Morgan and Magna InfoTech. Today he works with Magna InfoTech as a recruiter.
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