Inaaya

Inaaya is 13 years old and lives in a slum community right next to some of Delhi’s busiest railway tracks. Her family are originally from the rural northern district of Bihar and moved to the city in search of better job opportunities to sustain the family.

“I have four sisters who are 20, 17, 11 and 7 years old. We live with my parents, Anwar and Naleema, in Delhi. We used to live in Bihar – my favourite place in the world is my grandparents’ village because they live there and I love spending time with them. We moved to Delhi so my parents could find work.

Every day I get up in the morning at 7am and prepare food for my family. I do household chores and then study Urdu at the seminary. Eight months ago, I started going to the Education Centre with CHETNA so now I go there and I play with my friends in the evenings.

I really like our community. The best thing is that we all live together happily and everyone celebrates various occasions together. However, there are no sanitation facilities and the public toilet is so far that we can’t go there. There are lots of other children to play with which is fun but it’s also hard because many children have to fetch water, do household work and look after our siblings which can be difficult. Before I met CHETNA, that was all I used to do – I’d see other children going to school and feel sad.

Now though, I go to the project where I receive educational support, food and access to various activities. Since I’ve been going, I feel that my life has completely changes as I have a routine, friends to play with and hop that I’ll be able to fulfil my dream of being a teacher."

"I’ve learned so much at the project. I’ve learned to speak and write Hindi and to respect my elders, as well as to love my siblings. I’m good at drawing, dancing and singing – I like expressing myself. I learned to dance at the Education Centre. I want to be a teacher when I’m older to teach other children like me who don’t get education facilities – so that I can make my family proud. I hope to be successful in my life and achieve all my dreams.

Three months ago, I also got a rabbit as a pet who I called Golu. I like to spend time with him and play with him. All my family like his presence in our home. He makes me feel happy because I like to run with him, give him baths and feed him. It makes me feel happy when I’m with him and I don’t feel lonely.

I love having him because he’s helped me to have more of a routine as I get up early to feed him and go for a walk with him every day. He eats biscuits and grass and even when I’m not at home, my family looks after him."

“Having pets is important because when we have a pet, we feel happy when we care for them. It helps us to learn how we should help each other as humans too and makes us smile.” Inaaya