Success Stories

In a Delhi orphanage, a “Bollywood star” – and future doctor – is born.

Isha lived in a poor resettlement area in the South District of Delhi, India. Although her mother, Kusum Bibi, works as a maid, her earnings are too meager to support the day-to-day needs of her two children. And while at work, she always worried about Isha’s safety. To enable her daughter to study and build a better future for herself, Kusum Bibi placed Isha in the Muneer Balika Ashralaya (Muneer Girl’s Orphanage) in 2002.

Opened in 1999 to provide immediate shelter and protection for young girls after a fire ravaged the homes, belongings and families of Yamuna Pushta slum, the orphanage has become home to 25 girls ages 14-17 who do not have parents or whose parents are unable to take care of them. Here the girls find refuge from sometimes life-threatening circumstances, and—thanks to U.S.-based Room to Read—they also get the fees, books and uniforms required by local schools so they can spend their time studying…and dreaming about the future.

Room to Read is a nonprofit organization that partners with communities in India and throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries and other educational infrastructure. The organization seeks to intervene early in the lives of children such as Isha in the belief that education is a lifelong gift that empowers people to ultimately improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only an education can provide, Room to Read strives to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

Now in grade 7, Isha is a strong student with a bright future and lots of dreams. Last year, she ranked second in her class. She sees her mother and brother when they visit on Sundays, and she participates in a variety of school activities including cricket and stitching classes. And she loves to sing—wowing recent visitors to the orphanage with a Bollywood dance routine. Her ultimate dream: to become a doctor when she grows up.

You, too, can lift the curtain on a better future for our One Shared World.