We at Tripura Foundation receive many stories about brave, intelligent children facing and overcoming steep obstacles. This is one in which our heroine takes extra steps to create a bright future for herself, her family, her friends and her community.
Like many HoPE Learning Center children, Divya comes from a family that struggles each day to bring in enough wages to keep food on the table. Her father works in a local factory and her mother takes on temporary labor jobs. Their parents worked as laborers for most of their lives as well.
They come from a long line of family members who were unable to escape similar fates because they were unskilled and illiterate.
Divya would likely face a similar fate if she wasn’t motivated to do everything she os able to end this cycle of familial poverty by improving her circumstances. For one thing, she is a very good student. She is quite adept at reading, dancing, yoga, Phonemic Intelligence and sports. She feels happiest when she has time to sit and draw pictures of a brighter future and when she is able to teach her skills to other students and village children.
Amul, her HoPE Center teacher, now encourages Divya to reach for her dreams to become a teacher so she can empower her family members and people around her with skills, knowledge and literacy.
Divya now saves money from village bake sales in a mud pot hyundial (piggy bank) to help pay for the actualization of this dream. So far, she has saved more than Rs. 500.
It doesn’t take much to help a special child like Divya draw a bright future by ending a long cycle of poverty. Right now, just $9 a month covers the costs of HoPE Center sponsorship, tutoring, lessons, materials and daily mini meals for one child. For $300 per month, you can sponsor an entire HoPE Learning Center, including Divya’s Center, Perungalathur!
