SPONSOR A CHILD LIKE...
VARSHITA
Village: Sanevaripalli, Mudigubba area, Kadiri
Varshita is seven and lives with her family of five in Sanevaripalli. Her young parents, Angineilu and Umadevi, are both agricultural labourers. Angineilu left school at 14 years old to work as a shepherd and contribute to the family’s economy.
Varshita is only in 2nd grade and her favourite subject is Telugu, the local language. “Her teacher tells us that she loves writing”, says her father proudly. Even if she enjoys school, for Varshita the best part of life is friendship. She explains, “I love playing with my friends. We like skipping, paying football, volleyball and hide and seek.”
She was sponsored in 2016 through FORDT. The benefits of this sponsorship program is that in addition to education and complete medical care for Varshita, RDT provides a subsidised care package for the rest of the family as well.
“We feel very reassured now because before Varshitha came under sponsorship program, our youngest was sick and we had to spend a lot of money in medical bills at a private hospital. We had to request a loan,” explains Umadevi.
SATYANANDA
Village: Chennapatnam
The first thing Satyananda will tell you about his life is that he loves studying and that he is the second in his class. He is just behind Rakesh, who is also his best friend.
Satyananda studies 7th grade (year 8) at the government school in Tadimarri. He wants to finish secondary education and become a police officer. “There are too many thieves and I want to punish them,” he says. He loves cinema and confesses that N. T. Rama Rao Jr is his favourite actor.
The selection criteria to enter the sponsorship programme depends on the social and economic status of the family. Satyananda entered the programme because he lost his father, a silk weaver, in 2010. Ever since then, his mother has had to depend on her in-laws and her parents to provide for their basic needs.
“I earn a small income by babysitting in our village for those who go for work. But it is not enough to ensure education for my two children. Now that Satyananda is a sponsored by RDT, I live less worried. RDT is like family for us.” says Vanoja.
“My daughter got a scholarship to study at a government boarding school. She is very intelligent too and so she got a scholarship,” she added with pride and satisfaction.
Through RDT's child sponsorship program, the siblings of sponsored children also receive educational and medical support.