EDUCATION (Educational Adoption Scheme) *Syed Rafat: One morning one of our Committee members gets a call from the Principal of an Urdu Medium School, requesting us to take up a topper from her school under our Educational Adoption Scheme (EAS), she assures that the student is very hardworking but comes from a very poor family and would certainly not be sent to college if MESCO or some other Charitable Trust did not intervene. The student fills up an application form. MESCO staff visits her residence on to check the veracity of the case and this is what he observes: Rafat stays in a very narrow hut which is in a bad shape. Rafat father, Mr. Zahid aged 50 years used to work as a labourer in an Automobile Spare Parts shop earning Rs. 700/-p.m. until a year back, when the shop was sold off and he has since been rendered jobless being illiterate.

His wife is also illiterate and spends most of the day taking care of her large family consisting of 3 daughters and 2 sons. The eldest daughter Rafat 18 years old has scored 78.5% marks at her XII (Sc.) and topped in her college, the next daughter Kaneez Fatima aged 13 years is studying in Std. IX in the same school, the third daughter, Tabassum (10 years) is a student of a Municipal (very sub standard) School nearby. The next in line, Master Roshan (8 years) is also a student of the Municipal School and the last (son) Master Rizwan aged (5 years) has not been enrolled in school due to abject poverty. The hut is very old and narrow and does not have even the necessary utensils, there is no furniture not even a bed or cupboard, things are kept in a few bags; the family uses very old clothes, poverty was visible everywhere. Rafat gives tuitions to many children of the locality to earn (a small amount that provides) livelihood for the family."

Rafat was finally inducted into the EAS in 1987 and MESCO Committee managed to secure admission for her in a good college (Sophia College) run by Christian Missionaries (Sisters). She was also encouraged and enrolled for Conversational English Classes; both the college fees, conversational class fees and 2 sets of clothes were provided for by MESCO. She was guided & counseled through her three years of undergraduate studies at the college. She put in a lot of hard work and in the history of the college for the first time a vernacular medium student topped the college in Microbiology at all the three years of under graduate studies, as also at the University exams. Rafat scored a high first class at her degree university exam, and, on the basis of her result, was granted admission for M.Sc. (on merit). She scored a first in M.Sc. Part-I, but due to her research project not doing too well she managed to get only a high second class in the M.Sc. Part-II. Unfortunately the same year that she was doing her M.Sc. Part-II, her hut caved in. MESCO came to her rescue for reconstruction of the hut and paid Rs. 10,000/- for the same.

Armed with an M.Sc. this young girl of 22 who had always struggled this far now was going to see better days. She applied for a lecturer job at a college in the suburbs of Bombay and was selected out of over 12 candidates who had come for the interview.

She was soon drawing a salary 10 times that she had received that far, and saw to it that she educated her other brothers & sisters. Her second sister Kaneez Fatima completed her degree in Commerce while Tabassum did a course in tailoring. Both the brothers have also been educated and are currently employed.

However with all this she still continued to stay in the small hut but with furniture and some other basic necessities of life. MESCO's well wishers Ali Qureishi from Albuquerque, U.S. on his annual visit to Bombay, had suggested that he would like to help one or two deserving educated persons by providing a simple dwelling place costing a lakh to 1.5 lakhs. MESCO members took him to visit Rafat at the slum colony at Dharavi-Sion, where she stayed.Ali Qureishi was so moved by her condition that he decided on the spot to help her. He bought her a flat (near the college where she was lecturing), within 4 months of his decision. Rafat and her family moved into the flat except for the father who had died in 1996.Â

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*Nida Shaikh: Nida father used to work at Kamla Mills but after the strike and the mill being closed down in 1983 he was without a job except did some odd jobs at a Bakery nearby to fend for his family. Nida was a bright kid having scored 77.28% at her S.S.C. Board exams, when she was inducted into the EAS. She almost gave up studies when her result at Std. XII (Science) did not turn out to be good enough to give her a seat in Medicine which field she was keen to pursue. It was regular counseling, guidance and encouragement that made her agree to take up Social Work as the next choice at a well known institution, Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work. Initially she was hesitant and not sure if she had taken the right decision by choosing social work as a career - but a few months into the course, she was almost certain that was the career that she would do if given the opportunity to choose again. She topped not only her institution but at the University at the degree level and also later topped the University at the post graduate level, M.A. (Social Work). Writes Nida I was a student of science with great ambition of being somebody in the field of medicine - getting low marks was a blow for me and another twist of fate which introduced me in the field of Social Work. It was the blessings of God Almighty, active support & encouragement of my parents & siblings and MESCO members that I never repented my decision. Though very often there were dark clouds surrounding me, making me feel, that survival in this profession was difficult, future then seemed bleak, but with fierce, determination and hard work, I was through it; now there is no ambiguity as to what I want to do in future. Nida is the fourth child of Mr. Mohd. Hafiz who has 3 daughters and 2 sons, Nida eldest sister dropped out after Std XI. A younger sister completed her Unani medicine, her 2 brothers have since completed their graduation. One is employed as a Computer Operator and another is in Readymade Garment Business all due to Nida efforts. Nida who had been on EAS- support for 7 years, is now on a Ph.D Scholarship to the U.K. She worked in the Woman Cell attached to several Police Stations in Mumbai after her M.S.W.and was awarded a scholarship for doing her Ph.D. at Sussex Univsersity in London. * Names changed in all cases to maintain confidentiality