Abhinayavalli & Soundarya, Villupuram

Abhinayavalli and Soundarya are two sisters from Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. While Abhinaya, 11, is in Grade 6, her sister, who is 13 years old is in Grade 8. Both love going to school and their head teacher says the two are bright students.

However, recently the school found out that the siblings were working as part-time domestic help as they had no financial support at home. The children’s father, a mason, died after he accidentally fell off a high construction site. Their mother suffers from paralysis and is unable to even walk. The children and the mother live with their grandmother, who has little herself. 

Though they go to a state school, where education is free, the children cannot afford to buy even basic things like pencils or a geometry box for school. Given the family situation, the two children were close to dropping out of school. Aware of this and not wanting the good students to miss out on their education, the school head decided to seek help for the two girls. A friend who runs an NGO approached us with the school’s request. Hope Unlimited has now committed to giving the two children a monthly scholarship so they do not have to work, even part time but go to school instead.

(February 2020)