THE THIRD CHILD
We were already immensely satisfied to help changing Rekha’s, Amuda’s and their respective families’ destinies. It was with great pride that we decided to sponsor another child in 2009.
Initially we had planned to support the schooling of a young girl named Ambika. After considering several girls' applications, we eventually chose Seema because of the emergency of her familial and social context. Ambika, on her side, found another sponsor and she is still under Ra Foundation's protection.
Her story in a few lines
2009 : When we took her under our wing, Seema was 8 years old. She was enrolled in the Marathi public school in Mumbai. Seema lived with her grandmother, her mother and younger brothers in Mankurd, a slum of Mumbai. Her father had been in prison for a few months and could no longer work to provide for his family’s needs. Her mother then accumulates precarious jobs to support her family. Our funding allowed Seema to pursue her education rather than starting to work at a very young age and being exploited as other children unfortunately are.
Seema was enrolled in the Happy Kids program. She is very joyful and studious. She had been participating for a couple of years in the activities of the Akanksha Foundation, a partner of Ra Foundation. It is indeed their team, working on the field, who had spotted this young girl and raised concern about the emergency of her family situation.
Her work and her behaviour are highly appreciated by school representatives and her peers, since she cares for others and has a helpful and considerate character. She does a lot of effort to open up to others. She enjoys spending time outdoors and playing with animals, especially dogs, which she loves.
Her relatives describe her as an intelligent and polite young girl, very attentive and with great learning skills. She is generous, responsible and patient with children, even the most challenging of them.
2018 : Outside school hours, Seema has joined the NSS (National Social Service). She participated in various activities such as polio camps, blood donation, beach cleaning, etc.
Besides, she spent 8 days in a rural camp where she planted trees, helped the villagers build their houses, and distributed stationery to children, among others.
Since she graduated from high school that year, Seema has been trying to find her own path. She switched from science to arts then to hospitality management. Having received good results at the qualifying test, she was selected into one of the top ranked IHM (Institutes of Hotel Management) schools in India. The school located in Chennai proposed her to enrol in a three-year training. The beginnings were a bit difficult since she suffers of eating disorders, and Chennai's food did not suit her!
Nevertheless, after Seema started her training, she has been participating actively in school life. Thanks to the hands-on classes, she visited prestigious hotels and restaurants, where she met influential people. In 2019, she participated in Kalakriti, a university event. She and her classmates set up the buffet meal, prepared food, and helped the older students to decorate the room. She stayed fit and concerned about her health and diet. She practiced sports every day after school hours.
Today : Because of the lockdown, Seema couldn’t present herself to the second term exams in 2020, as they were cancelled. However, she was able to sit the tests online during 2020-21 academic year. Her score was 70%. She complemented her training with a professional internship at the Hyatt in Chennai, in the following four departments: culinary, catering, reception and housekeeping. Besides her studies, she remains very active: she likes to cook, she sponsors Ra Foundation children in internship and worked for a while at the Bombay Café, now adding Barista knowledge on top of her skills.
