Hasri didn’t know what she was missing before she went to school. Now she loves learning.
Hasri sat shyly while our team interviewed her with her mum and dad.
‘What makes her happy?’ we asked. ‘School’ her mother responded with a laugh. ‘She goes every day, and reads books. That makes her very, very, happy.’
Hasri lives in rural Nepal with her mum and dad and other extended family. She’s a cheerful girl who enjoys cuddling her goats and sharing hot lentil curry with her family. She also has Down Syndrome. Her parents say she’s helpful around the house—doing chores, taking care of herself and fetching water. But she didn’t always have such a happy, enriched life.
Schooling Without Support Is Difficult
Sadly, in many cases, social stigma, and lack of access to facilities and appropriately trained staff make it difficult for parents to enrol a child with disability. As a result, children like Hasri are excluded from school and the social, educational, and life-enhancing opportunities it provides. This is typical in vulnerable communities where attendance at school is already heavily dependent upon parents’ ability to afford fees, school supplies and transport to and from the school.
UNICEF estimated in 2021 that around 240 million children with disabilities around the world were denied basic rights, like access to school.
A New Opportunity Gave Hope
Hasri was thirteen years old when her life changed for the better because she joined Baptist World Aid’s child sponsorship program. After getting to know Hasri, our local Christian Partner visited her parents and spoke to them about the benefits of sending their daughter to school. Our local Partner provided the materials Hasri needed, and her parents enrolled her in school for the first time.
When Hasri received these school supplies from our Christian Partner she said, ‘I will go to school’.
Now Hasri enjoys learning alongside other new starters at school. Her favourite subjects are reading and writing, and she’s made two good friends. They enjoy playing hide and seek together.
Equal Access To Education Is Key To Flourishing
Hasri shows how important it is that all children are given equal opportunities to access education so they can grow and thrive with their peers. She’s now passionate about encouraging others in her community to experience the joy she’s found. When she finds out children in her community are not going to school, she calls out to their parents, ‘take those children to school!’
These days, Hasri’s loving parents are much more hopeful for the future of their determined daughter.
‘I don’t know what will happen’, her father said. ‘But education can lead to a job and then she can depend on herself one day’.
Want to see more children like Hasri access similar opportunities? Child Sponsorship means more than connecting with just one child. Become a Child Sponsor today and you can support the work of our local Partners as they assist children, families, and whole communities to thrive.
Meredith Benson,
