Abhinaya (Nursing Student), Sheela (10th Std), Mother Amudha, Rajeshwari (7th Std)

Life could not have been any harsher for Amudha. Her husband had been diagnosed with HIV and had died in the year 2013. When tested herself, she too was found to be infected with that terminal illness. What could a mother of three daughters do in this situation?

Alas, she attempted suicide without realizing that her children would then become orphans with nobody to take care of them, as no guardian was in place. Luckily, the neighbours intervened and saved her. GET came to their rescue in the year 2014 and enrolled her in the government’s rehabilitation programme. After a series of counselling sessions, she was reunited with her children.

GET arranged for her employment as a housekeeper in a nearby village and since then she has been working with renewed self-confidence and honesty. She is also part of our Widow Women Programme and receiving monthly help. Her children - Abhinaya, Sheela and Rajeshwari - received support to recover from this tragedy; as well as continued and uninterrupted support towards their education. Presently the eldest one, Abhinaya, is pursuing a nursing diploma.

Abhinaya was inspired to choose this profession since her aim was to help in treating HIV patients. She has been immensely affected by her parent’s health condition; hence she is now determined to help those patients with the same disease. Regarding her siblings, Sheela is presently in 10th Standard and youngest one - Rajeshwari - is in 7th Standard.

Vasanth (ITI Student), Vetri (8th std), Monisha (finished school), and their mother Sathya.

Sathya’s and her children’s (Monisha, Vasanth and Vetri) lives were drastically upended on one horrific night when Sathya’s husband, Velu, died in a road accident.

Velu was the sole breadwinner of the family. Sathya, who hadn’t stepped out of the home in all these years, was now forced to be employed as a coolie (i.e. day laborer) to be able to feed her three kids. Yet, her meagre wages was barely enough to provide two meals a day, and education was out of the question for these bright children. The children had to drop out of school for almost a year since they could not afford the expenses.

Sathya came to us four years ago seeking support and we arranged employment for her as a cleaning lady in a nearby home. The kids were reenrolled in school with all the expenses covered. GET helped Vasanth pursue Industrial Training in an institute located in Bengaluru. Vetri is presently happily enrolled in 8th Standard in school and the eldest, Monisha, upon completing school is now working in a garment factory.

We accepted Sathya into our Widow Women Programme and she is now receiving monthly help and support. She is also providing care to our little girls participating in our Trust. Positive transformation is now in progress for this cute little family!

Pavithra (8th Std), Durga (6th Std), Ramya (4th Std)

No children have been met with greater sorrow at their young age than Pavithra, Durga and Ramya. These three beautiful and intelligent sisters were in the care of their maternal grandmother. Their father had committed suicide due to poverty.

Their father’s relatives blamed their mother as the reason and proceeded to throw her out of the family. Soon after in 2016, in an unfortunate incident, she too died. The grandmother had heard of us and brought Pavithra, Durga and Ramya seeking our assistance. The children were in such trauma, at that point, that for many days they did not speak a word to our teacher.

After much struggle, we managed to connect with their hearts. After receiving numerous counselling sessions, the children felt more hope and they began to mingle with other children. Along with the usual sponsorship assistance provided by one of our good friends/donors, special bridge courses were provided to them so that they would not miss the lessons while away from school.

We are greatly relieved to say that these children have now moved beyond their trauma. Since these children needed more help than just educational sponsorship, we placed them in a boarding school where they are provided food, shelter and education. We visit periodically to assure them that we are not just a source of help, but of love and care as well!

From left - Ramkumar (7th std), Rajkumar (9th std), Gopinath (9th std), Kaviyarasan (7th std) and Aravind (10th Std) ( centre back)

Meet our beloved Ramkumar, Rajkumar, Gopinath, Kaviyarasan and Aravind. These five brothers are part of a family where the father is employed as a coolie (i.e. day laborer) and their mother, a homemaker.

We met the eldest one, Aravind, at a hotel four year ago where he was working as a child labourer and cleaning tables. We were shocked to learn of his family’s poor situation and decided to help him right away.

He was made a part of our school sponsorship programme and was enrolled in school. During the same year, his four little brothers joined us; and now they are all happily attending school. For Aravind, the ghosts of the past are now replaced with hope for the future!

Ajith, a Student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Ajith’s story is an inspiring one. He is one of the very first student who benefitted under our sponsorship programme.

We came to know him in 2011, and he was receiving help from us even before our Get Education Trust was formally started in 2014. His parents are both agricultural labourers and during off season times they work as construction labourers, as well.

Ajith is a brilliant and hardworking student. In spite of his poverty, he is studying hard; and he knows that after successfully completing his course, he will be employed and his difficult times will be over once and for all. Initially, he came to us through our school sponsorship programme. GET has also extended further help for his higher education.

He so deserves it, and we are extremely glad that he continues exhibiting his good nature year after year. Even now, during the holidays, he works in the fields part time to help his family. From 7th Standard to Bachelor of Engineering, his journey has been extraordinary and inspiring!