Dreaming big amidst adversities
Adithya belongs to a low-income family in Kuttanad, Kerala. Her father, who is an auto-rickshaw driver, is the only earning member in her family. Earlier, he used to be hired by people to drive their private cars. But, with the birth of his two children, he found that his earnings were not sufficient to feed his family of six.
He got a job driving a dump truck but had to give it up as he suffered chronic back pain. He then took a loan and bought an auto-rickshaw. Today he earns Rs.250 per day and barely manages to meet the family expenses.
Adithya’s mother has also taken loans from Kudumbashree (a women empowerment programme implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala) to meet the children’s educational needs.
Adithya’s home stands in 2.5 cents of land in the low-lands of Edathua village in the Kuttanad region in Alleppey District. Adithya lives in a small house with no toilet facility inside. So the usage of it at night is a big problem. During heavy rains, her village gets flooded. During the floods that hit Kerala in 2018, a portion of Adithya’s home got damaged. They were able to repair it partially with the aid received from the local Panchayath. The water from their well is not suitable for drinking or cooking food. So they need to buy clean drinking water, which costs Rs.150/- and lasts for a week or so.
Adithya excelled in class 10 by scoring A+ in all the subjects. She attended the personality development workshop and career guidance seminar organised by the Value Education Trust (VET). Her abstract reasoning and spatial skills were found to be at the fore in the Psychometric test conducted to analyse her skill-sets. VET’s educational counsellor advised her to pursue a career in pharmacy.Â
She is now studying in class 11 and is attending entrance coaching classes for the medical entrance examination with Value Education Trust’s support. Offline classes have resumed, which is a source of comfort for Adithya as it gives her more space to interact with her teachers and clear her doubts.
VET helps under-privileged children like Adithya to achieve success in life. As an NGO that operates with contributions from within India, VET needs your support to change the life of Adithya forever!
