Aarti's Story

The contrast is startling. Giant billboards advertising the latest computer technology and the newest Bollywood films loom above homeless people sitting on the streets, looking for odd jobs or begging. Mumbai, India, a hub of economic activity, is a city of contrasts. Some people, educated and with good jobs, live well. Others, poor and uneducated have almost no chance of bettering their lives. Many of them are children. One of them is Aarti.

Aarti is very beautiful. Her soft voice inspires trust. She would make a wonderful teacher or doctor. Instead, the 16 year old lives on the street with her mother and brothers. She sleeps on the sidewalk and she spends her days roaming alleyways looking for odd jobs. She will not beg. “I can’t” she says, “It’s too embarrassing”. Because she is uneducated and has no skills, her opportunities are almost non-existant.

Aarti attended school until second grade when her older brother pulled her out. “I could have had a job, by not going to school, I have ruined my life” she says sadly. Still, she dreams of a better future: about getting a good job so that she can help her mother and siblings. Then she laughs at herself for thinking this way. “My dream can’t come true” she says, “I’m not educated.” Aarti, like millions of uneducated girls and women worldwide, are stuck in a vicious cycle in which poverty and lack of education feed off one another.

Yet there is hope. Aarti was seen as a good candidate for the Doorstep School, a UNICEF-sponsored project that brings education to street kids and those living in slums. Baban, who works for the programme, also arranged a paid apprenticeship for Aarti with a flower vendor who will teach her a trade.

Now Aarti has a chance in life. In the morning, she will train as a florist. In the afternoon, she will go to the Doorstep School to learn.

Perhaps with programs such as the Doorstep School, and a lot of hard work, Aarti’s dream of having a good job to help her mother and siblings will come true. She still faces many hurdles. She has, however, overcome the first one and claimed her right to an education.

How you can help?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. Learn more about how UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP, UNFPA and the World Bank work with national governments and regional and international institutions such as Save the Children and Learning for Life. The goal is to provide children with free and compulsory quality education and to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education.