By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Guwahati: Poverty could hardly deter Rahima Begum from chasing her dream. Living in a slum in Guwahati, the lady in her 30s is realizing her dreams through the poor kids of the slum. She herself could not complete her school due to the extreme poverty of her parents but now she is dedicating her life to educate the slum kids.
“I’m very much happy realizing my dream of doing something big through these kids. As I have failed of doing it myself, I wish these kids would fulfill my dream. I would be happiest if these kids acquire good education in future. Poverty is our biggest hurdle but I want to be the winner,” an emotional Rahima told TwoCircles.net.
Rahima Begum with the slum children in Guwahati
She starts her day with preparation to send her two kids to school who study in class IV at a nearby lower primary school before rushing to attend the slum kids of her locality at No 2 Hafiznagar Child Protection centre at 9.30 am daily.
“This has been the routine of my life for the last two years. I feel good spend time with the kids and make them learn new things. All these kids are poor and they cannot afford to have proper facilities. So, I give my best to teach them lessons before they become efficient enough to join higher classes in other schools,” she added.
At present there are 45 such children of the locality who accompany Rahima to the centre to learn their lessons. The area spreading along 900 metre railway line in city’s Bamunimaidam area is home to around 300 people.
Rahima who hails from Nalbari got married in 2003 to Jaynal Ali who works as a rag picker in the neighbourhood areas before shifting her base to Hafiznagar in 2011.
All thanks to UTSAH (Universal Team for Social Action and Help) is a NGO, working on child rights and protection in Assam for helping her cause by building the child protection centre.
“We are driven by the philosophy of unrestricted right to life that has freedom, dignity and meaning. Our vision is the achievement of an equitable society where all people can live and thrive. Our current mission is to create safer spaces and fosters development of children who are in need of care and protection,” said Miguel Queah, the founder chairman of UTSAH.
He also appreciated the effort of Rahima Begum in helping the kids getting education. The UTSAH on-site school (with SMILE foundation, India) runs successfully with the organization’s aid, where school children are encouraged to secure brighter futures they would own.
The area where most of the people are below poverty line, struggle hard to fulfill their daily needs. They have also welcomed the initiative of Rahima Begum and UTSAH for guiding their kids.
“We are poor people and for us educating the kids is a challenge. We are grateful to UTSAH and also to Rahima for their efforts. Besides, we would like to appeal to the government for our wellbeing,” said Babul Ali who also works as a rag picker.