Fighting Odds with Education

Fighting Odds with Education

Anushka’s father, Pawan is a native of Kimadi village, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Pawan drives a truck for a vehicle owner. Sometimes when there is not enough work for the owner, he works as casual labor. On an average, his income is Rs 10,000 / per month. Anushka’s mother Pinky is a housewife. She has an elder sister, Anshika who is also studying in PYDS Learning Academy in class VII.

The family has some farming land, which is lying barren, as villagers have abandoned farming due to wild boars and other wild animals. Pawan shares his ancestral house with his brother. They have 3 rooms, a small veranda, a kitchen and a washroom. The house is not maintained due to obvious financial reasons. They have limited household items with utensils and vessels.

Though Anushka is a brainy child, yet she was not able to avail quality education. With Balrampur Foundation support to PYDS for children (predominantly girls) with potential, from deeply needy and underprivileged families PYDS is able to impart high-quality academics, adequate nutrition, and comprehensive health care to Anushka at no cost to her family. She has been shifted to the school hostel and is making remarkable progress. She is able to understand each concept very well. She uses knowledge of place value concepts accurately to compare two or more two – digit numbers and provides written justification of thinking as evidence to prove that her answer is correct. She is able to analyze character actions, story plots, and shows strong fluency with reading. Recently, she wrote a very brief and interesting summary on Lindbergh’s flying spirit and since she is enthusiastic in co – curricular activities too, she is proving to an inspiration for other girls too.