Saleha is a published poet

Eleven year old Saleha is a student in a mainstream local school. She was initially enrolled at an Apna Skool centre located in a brick kiln and studied there till 5^th grade, but since her family showed that they were keen on ensuring she got a good education, Jagriti helped get her enrolled in a mainstream school.

Saleha’s father, Siddiqui Ali, and mother, Marjina, hailing  from Assam, make their living as rag-pickers in Kanpur City, UP. Having migrated from a distant land, the family faces a number of hardships in the form of language barriers and unfamiliar local habits and practices. As rag-pickers, they rummage through garbage dumps, recovering recyclable objects, take them to processing contractors, who provide them meager earnings in return. They start work very early in the morning at 4 AM and wind up by noon.

Saleha is the second child in the family. She has three brothers and two sisters. Until recently, Saleha and her brother were assisting their parents in rag-picking. Now, all the children are in school. Saleha goes to the primary school in the morning and attends Apna Skool education center in the afternoon and also has her meals at the center.

The children enthusiastically attend Apna Skool and look forward to becoming literate and skilled. Saleha is smart and very talented  in singing and Brigu (an Assamese folk dance). She enjoys writing poems, one of which was published in the July 2011 issue of the Chakmak, a monthly children’s magazine published by Ekalavya, Hoshangabad, MP. She is thrilled that her poems are being read by a nation-wide audience. As for her hobbies, she loves playing with the skipping rope and enjoys a good game of  ludo.

Saleha is truly an eager learner and aspires to become a teacher.

Thank you, Rosemarie, for donating a year of study materials to Saleha.

Thank you, UBS, for providing a set of two uniforms to Saleha.

Thank you, Natasha (three months) and Felix (six months) for coming together to provide a full year of school lunches to Saleha.

Thank you, Rao, Ivo and Joe and Karen, for coming together to provide a year of comprehensive medical care to Saleha.

Your generosity will ensure that Saleha is able to rise to her full potential.