Alpana Kumari is a 14-year-old who lives with her parents and four siblings in Nathupur, Gurugram. Her father, Kumawat works as a driver and her mother is a homemaker. She is studying in class IXth in Government Senior Secondary School Nathupur. Being sincere, Alpana always took school education seriously. Yet, she was not able to score as much as she wished to; Alpana wanted to excel. At a very young age she understood that education is the great leveller and tool that can transcend her dreams into reality. Her parents, equipped with only basic education, could not support her with education at home. Four years ago, Alpana heard about the Samarth Programme through her friends, and later a Samarth centre teacher visited her home and informed her parents about the programme. After passing her class Vth exam, Alpana decided to change things. To improve her marks she decided to join remedial classes offered by HPPI’s Samarth Programme.

“The financial condition of my family is very poor and so my parents could not afford to send us for any tuition,” explains Alpana. She also added an extra challenge of shifting her education from the Hindi medium to the English medium, as she wanted to broaden the future opportunities. According to her, “It was a struggle to learn a new language and learn all the other subjects in that language. But, with my tuition teachers’ support, I gradually started showing improvement.” Observing Alpana’s marked improvement, her parents have gotten her three younger sisters also enrolled under this programme.
According to Alpana’s teacher at the remedial centre, Lakshmi, “Alpana is regular with her remedial classes and is a diligent student. She has consistently shown improvement.” Alpana is getting specific subject related guidance and support which helps her understand the concepts more profoundly and perform better. She also actively participates in extra-curricular activities such as sports, cultural programmes, exposure visits, spoken English classes, etc. The computer classes at the centre interest her the most. “I have even learnt basic coding which was super exciting and entirely new for me!,” chirps Alpana excitedly. “I want to grow up and become a software engineer. It is a common dream that my father and I share. When he was a student, he too wanted to be a software engineer. But he could not pursue his dreams due to financial constraints and lack of support. Now, I have hope and believe that I can become one.”

Starting from getting low to average marks in her school, Alpana has started progressively scoring well. She passed her class VIIth exams with 80% and class VIIIth exams with 86%. She is confidently looking forward to her class IXth results. Besides academic success, Alpana is flourishing in expressing herself through arts. Participating in all the extracurricular activities has enhanced Alpana’s personality. “Field trips, participation in events such as Gurugram Got Talent, Gurugram Show Hour Heart, among others has boosted my morale and confidence,” states Alpana.

Alpana’s entire family gets support from the project through free health check-ups, medicines and treatments. Alapna’s mother, Mona is part of one of the women’s health clubs here where she is gaining a lot of useful information and assistance related to varied health topics. She has also got her Aadhaar card made with the help of the centre. Recently, Mona has learnt stitching from the centre and has started earning Rs 5,000 per month by stitching clothes for the women in the neighbourhood. “My entire family is prospering with the support of the Samarth Programme. Now, with my roots nurtured, I want to pursue my dreams and reach my true potential.”