cont. - Ashoka

A special
Thanks To:
Rachel Land
Lanna Walsh
Scott Rechler
Bruno Borges
Gaston Wright
Carol Grodzins
Ali Levine
Jessica Lee
Caroline Casey
Sadhana Shrestha
Samjhana Upadhyay
Quratulain
Bakhteari
Dan Tuttle, Editor
on the Brink of Abandonment (cont.)
the lantern to her face. She was about 20
years old and her eyes sparkled with deep
excitement and love.
Then she began to explain. She grew up in
a town called Baladia, a town of squatter
settlements I worked in during the early
eighties to bring sanitation and hygiene
education.
“You came to my house and talked to my
mother about sending me to school,” she
said, “and it was after hours so I could still
work and earn money for my family. You
used to visit us a lot and gave us books.
“Because of you I was able to go to school
until the tenth grade.”
Her name was Bano. She had followed her
husband home to Panjgoor four years ago
and is now a math teacher at the only school
in town.
Her hug sent a flow of warmth through my
sad and frustrated body.
To learn more about Global Fellowship and Fellows featured
in this issue, go to ashoka.org.
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Then I looked at her with excitement––I
had found my first ally in the entire town!
I asked her if she would help me to find
villages where there were literate women to
recruit to be teachers. She jumped at once
and said “Oh yes, I will come tomorrow and
I will take you to meet these women.”
With Bano at my side I established 60
girls schools in Panjgoor in one and a
half months. It was an accomplishment
I thought impossible upon my arrival.
Now not only would girls have equal
access to education, but the corrupt local
officials would no longer be able to sell
fake teaching posts and pocket the money
for themselves.
My encounter with Bano gave me the
strength, vision, and motivation to
continue doing my work. She was proof
that I was helping to change lives. ■