Waseem Ahmed likes being the one his friends turn to. On the cricket field, he helps decide who bats first, encourages his teammates, and cheers them on when they do well. He is a good batsman and fielder, but what rejoices him the most is being involved, guiding others and taking responsibility. Even in the small decisions of a game, Waseem finds an opportunity to lead. Ask him what he wants to become when he grows up, and his answer reflects the confidence he brings to these everyday moments: he wants to be a leader.
Meantime, for his father, ensuring that Waseem has access to education means working hard despite the family’s financial difficulties. Taking his roots from a financially struggling household, his father bears the responsibility of providing for his children while trying to secure a better future for them. Education, for Wasem, widens the horizon. However, a year ago the same education was a peril. Cloudbursts, landslides, and flashfloods took everything away in his home village Resai, Jammu. A wave of destruction engulfed the areas of Jammu and Kashmir. Homes, schools, livestock, and livelihoods were washed away.
Disheartened he was when he was forced to end his education. Days passed in grief and silent tears, but hopes of restarting his education could not shine. Landslides swallowed houses, blocked roads, and ripped his village off from the world. Everywhere in his vicinity was battling with nature’s fury, but Waseem was grappling with the fear of not being able to get back to his education.
Meantime, elsewhere in the pockets of Jammu and Kashmir, relief was spiralling through Shaagird Foundation. Medical camps were being organized, menstrual and hygiene kits were distributed, and education was recouped, oblivion to which Waseem was. During the relief work, the Shaagird Foundation learned about Resai Village and the impact of nature’s fury on it. The Foundation crossed broken roads and terrains, washed away bridges, and reached the village.
The picturesque sites were devastated beyond recognition, and the future of several seemed to have a dark cloud. Soon after, the Shaagird Foundation conducted a survey in the Resai; educational gaps were recognized and filled by enrolling children into madrassa. One among several children who were enrolled was Waseem, giving opportunities to him to recoup his studies and dreams.
Months have passed in his madrasa, where he reads Noorani Qaida alongside math, English, and science. His world revolves around lessons, learning with curiosity still blooming and opportunities waiting to be flourished. The road to his education is long, but with the Shaagird Foundation, he wishes to cross every turn of it.
