With our help, Mukti Australia - through their partner in India, Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission - can transform the lives of girls in India through the power of education. In Sri Lanka, their partnership with Wings of Hope brings education assistance to both girls and boys.
The Ultimate Gift for Gowri*!
Gowri was widowed on the 21st of January 2019 when her husband, who worked for a stone cutting quarry lost his life going uphill to fix dynamite. Today she is a single mother left to bring up her two boys Dhanush (12 years) and Pradeep (3 years) independently. Gowri lived in a small mud house which she called home. She works in a plant nursery called the ‘Mal Farm’ from eight in the morning to five in the evening earning a daily wage of Rs.400/- (less than $3). Her mother, who is very elderly looks after her youngest son till she gets home. Dhanush attends Government school in the mornings, is in Grade 8 and attends the Wings program.
Gowri’s home was made of mud walls, had a leaking tin roof and a dirt floor. Meals were cooked over a firewood stove. They did not have running water but shared a well with the community. This new home will mean safety for Gowri (being a widow without her husband’s protection) and her two boys. It will keep them warm from the cold, no more pots and pans on the floor to collect rainwater that drips from a leaky roof. This is her dream!
In October 2020 this dream became a reality as Gowri, and her boys laid the foundation stone for her new home being built by Wings. Work started on the 14th of October, and despite all the COVID challenges, the team were able to complete the project on the 11th of December.
Thank you to all our friends that made this dream a reality for Gowri.
*Real name withheld
Gowri receiving her new home
Dev's* Story
I am Dev Digital from Makabali village in the Kandhamal district of Odisha. My parents worked from dawn to dusk, picking rags. They worked at any job they could find, yet at times struggled to buy even a handful of rice. We often went to bed starving, twisting and turning, crying and hoping for a brighter tomorrow. I stopped attending school, as my parents could not afford the fees.
I had an intense desire to become educated. I watched children my age, in their school uniforms on their way to school and would weep with frustration. I begged my parents to enrol me in tuition classes at least so I could keep up with the academics. Even at a young age, I had the earnest desire to work hard, be educated and to make a change in my family’s destiny. I would often go to my parents and weep with them, enquiring about my future. However, my family’s economic state was such that we could not afford even a pencil.
In this dismal state, according to God’s plan and purpose, I was enrolled at the Lokebadi Day Care Centre in 2012. Here I was helped not only with my education but so much more. The Centre offered me free tuition, food, clothes and study material. They encouraged and motivated me to develop interests, skills and talents outside of my school curriculum too. This was far beyond my expectation or imagination.
I have passed my 10th Board Exam with flying colours. I hope to study further and become a lecturer. I aim to help children who experience the same hopelessness that I as a child faced. My darkness and despair have turned to delight, and I would like to share this joy with others. I am indebted to Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission for starting this centre to help me and many others from my rag picking community
Real name withheld*
