Our Stars

Sufia Khatoon

Sufia, initially a quiet, shy, anxious child, has blossomed under the right guidance into a confident young woman. Being a child in a single parent household, the struggles for her have been many. Unlike others with financial and social constraints in the same region, Sufia has had to also deal with the trauma of abandonment and grapple with the loss of a mother’s presence. Her father has been, however, a pillar of strength throughout working as a rickshaw puller and earning approximately $47 a month to provide for their family. He encourages Sufia endlessly in her journey.
Now in grade 10, we are incredibly proud of her progress! She started her journey with Ek Tara at a young age, and her exceptional potential was clear from the beginning. She has consistently excelled academically, passing all her exams with outstanding results, her latest score being an impressive 85 percent!
In addition to her studies, Sufia is actively involved in extracurricular activities, showing a strong passion for art and storytelling. She is also an aspiring dancer, training in both Kathak and Bharatnatyam at her school and performing in various school events. Her participation in these programs and competitions highlights her enthusiasm and her desire to excel beyond academics. She is also a member of her school quiz club and has taken part in numerous intra-school competitions. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading authors like Sudha Murty, Ruskin Bond, and Dan Brown, and she loves to bake cookies and muffins!
Recently, she took part in a Model United Nations event at her school, representing Brazil. During discussions on climate change, she shared some brilliant ideas on how to address the related challenges.
Sufia has been chosen for the Young Scholar Programme at Ashoka University! This exciting summer residential program is designed for enthusiastic students in grades 9 to 12, offering them a glimpse into a liberal arts and sciences education at the university level. Participants will explore a diverse array of subjects, including Sciences, Economics, Technology, Data Sciences, Psychology, and more. It's a fantastic opportunity for students to investigate different fields, hone essential skills, and gain valuable insights for their future academic journeys. Sufia can't wait to participate in this five-day residential experience, recognizing it as an amazing opportunity for her.
She has also often been lauded by teachers and peers for her positive outlook and polite behavior. She is truly an inimitable role model for all those struggling to cope with life’s cruel plays.

Naheda Ali

Naheda has been with Ek Tara for seven years and is an inspiration to other young girls. She is one of our first students to have completed her graduation in B. Com honors from one of Kolkata’s most prestigious colleges, Shri Shikshayatan. Naheda completed her schooling from Khalsa High School.

She is currently pursuing CA from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Naheda lives with her parents and an older brother in a one room flat, sharing a toilet with four other families. Her father runs a small tea stall near Ek Tara’s Community Center and is the only family member to earn an income of about 6000 Indian rupees (77 US dollars) per month. Naheda’s brother is also enrolled in college to pursue B.Com.

As one of our brightest students, Naheda makes us extremely proud with her consistency and drive to succeed. Her other interests include painting and singing. Naheda also supports the Ek Tara community. She was trained as a street educator for our mobile school project – CPK and performs her role diligently.

Rukaiya

Rukaiya grew up in a poor family in a small village in Bihar. When she was in class four she was forced to drop out of school in order to help her mother with household chores. Her parents married Rukaiya off at the age of 15, and she found herself living in a teeming slum in Kolkata. Nothing in her rural home prepared her for the challenges of urban squalor: lack of space, lack of access to regular water supply, and high cost of staple foods. Her husband earned an irregular income from working as a semi-skilled artisan in a small shoe factory.

Rukaiya soon realized that it was up to her to get a job to augment the scarce resources of the household; and, very importantly, find a school for her daughter so that she could get the opportunity to complete her education unlike her mother.

Rukaiya enrolled her daughter Sumaiya into Ek Tara’s Montessori program and the little girl has blossomed in the happy environment. She studied at Ek Tara for a year and then joined the Modern High School for Girls in 2015 where, right from the start, she excelled in her class.

Rukaiya learns from her daughter. And she, in turn, instills her daughter with confidence and self-belief so that Sumaiya never feels less than equal to her schoolmates who come from far more privileged backgrounds. For us at Ek Tara, Rukaiya’s determination to make the most of every opportunity and turn her life around is an inspiration.

Mahinoor

Amid an environment of protracted poverty and obstacles, Mahenoor’s story epitomizes hope and resilience.

Throughout her schooling, she could have given up in the face of several challenges, including her low socioeconomic status, pressure for her to marry and remain at home, and access to educational institutions. But Mahenoor responded with resilience. She aspires to become a chartered accountant, and is working hard to realize her dream. We were introduced to Mahenoor in 2006 when she was just six years old. With no formal education or experience of attending school, she had to start from scratch.

A year later, Mahenoor was enrolled in Jyotirmoy Public School where she studied till grade five, and was then enrolled at Indira Academy. She took her board examination through the same school and fared extremely well. This was one of the most important milestones in her life because she was the first person from her family to have reached that level of schooling. Her older siblings had to drop out given financial constraints as she was growing up.

Following that, Mahenoor was enrolled at Khalsa High English School. And she excelled again, ultimately achieving 84% on her examination which was a tremendous feat. Her academic credentials resulted in her admission to B.Com at the prestigious AJC College. At present, she is in her fifth semester, doing what she does best - hard work and lots of hard work!

Utilizing a system designed to upskill and empower women, Mahenoor partially finances her studies with employment provided by Ek Tara. She is currently the sole breadwinner due to her father’s passing, and has to deal with food insecurities in addition to managing household chores.