Siddhesh Pappu is a quiet, unassuming 14-year-old boy with a giant smile that lights up his face every now and then. He lives in a slum community in Parel with his father Pappu Umap, a garbage collector, mother Nanda, a maid, and sister Harshita who studies in fourth grade. Siddhesh once had an older brother, but he passed away in a train accident several years ago.

Back in late 2016, Siddhesh would spend his mornings at school and evenings at a public ground in Parel watching Vision Rescue’s football team play practice matches. A few of his friends were even part of the sports program and one day, Siddhesh mustered the courage to join as well. Within a year, he blossomed into a gifted and confident football player, even though he had very little encouragement from his family. His father struggles with alcoholism and often prevents him from playing football.

One day, during routine practices on the field, the Head Coach of FC Mumbaikar, spotted Siddhesh play and called him for trials with the club. Siddhesh cleared the trials, passed the medical tests and was deemed fit to play with the 30-member squad. He was even chosen to attend a five-day soccer camp with the club, entirely free of cost. Siddhesh will continue with the club for all of 2018, and he couldn’t be more overjoyed at the amazing turns his life has taken in the last year! Because of your support, children from slum communities like Siddhesh have a fighting chance in the competitive world of sports!

She’s almost 15! Back in our hometown in Bihar she would be considered old enough to be married!” says Chandani Gafar Ansari’s father, a migrant hanger-maker who lives in the slum community of Shivajinagar, Mumbai. Their rented house is home to his wife, a homemaker, his teenage nephew Hasrath, his 14-year-old daughter Chandani and her younger brother and sister.

Chandani used to attend regular school until class 4, when she dropped out to briefly visit her native village. After she returned to Mumbai though, she never rejoined school, and at 14 years her family began hunting for a groom for her.

It was at this stage that one of our community workers met Chandani at home, and enquired about why the school-aged girl wasn’t being given an education. Chandani’s father was adamant at the suggestion. He believed that Chandani had studied more than enough, and was ready to be married. He felt that educating girls all the way into their adulthood was customary only in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, and he felt compelled to stay true to the traditions of his forefathers.

For nearly five months our community worker visited the family to convince them of the ills of child marriage, and the accompanying health hazards for teenage girls. While Chandani’s mom relented, her father took longer to be convinced. Eventually though, the family agreed to allow Chandani to complete her school education and admitted her in Vision Rescue’s Open Basic Education program (OBE).

At her OBE classes, Chandani is picking up her education from where she left off. She can soon give her OBE exams that are equivalent to the formal schooling she underwent earlier and when the new academic year begins, she will be enrolled once again into regular school. Her younger brother and sister have joined our education programs too, and her cousin brother Hasrath now volunteers with Vision Rescue as a community intern.

Thank you for stepping in to impact an entire family like Chandani’s ! Because of your support teenage girls like her can continue with their education and grow to their fullest potential!