A young girl and an adult woman, both smiling and close together, in a classroom. The girl is wearing a red school uniform and has a badge on her sweater, while the woman is dressed in traditional attire with jewelry and has a painted design on her forehead.

MEET MUSKAN

BYDC is proud to sponsor Muskan, a student at Sandipani Muni School in Vrindavan, India. The school is run by Food for Life Vrindavan (FFLV), a charity organization dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor in one of India’s most sacred pilgrimage sites. Gopi has long sponsored students at this school. The school has a special focus on educating girls from poor families, who often marry in adolescence because their parents cannot afford to keep them in school and they have no way to earn a living of their own. Thus, they remain trapped in poverty. But at Sandipani Muni School, the girls receive a quality education, nourishing meals, access to medical care, and much more, all free of charge. Many graduates have gone on to earn college degrees.

Muskan is the youngest of seven sisters in a family that has seen more than its share of struggles. Jayati, the oldest sister, left school in 6th grade, and the parents and the other five sisters have never had the opportunity to be educated at all. The mother works as a house cleaner, and the father’s alcohol abuse has led him to mistreat and neglect his family.

Muskan and her oldest sister, Jayati, live an hour away from the rest of their family in a rented room so Muskan can complete her education and break her family’s cycle of poverty for good. This is a lot of responsibility for a little girl, so BYDC is sharing the burden by covering Muskan’s tuition fees for as long as she stays in school. We hold fundraisers from time to time, such as on Thanksgiving Day and at our Women’s Circles, to let the whole community contribute to her scholarship fund.

Muskan is an endearing, enthusiastic, and bright child. Her teachers report that she is an intelligent student and is friendly and cooperative with her classmates. We’re so proud to hear it!

Please keep Muskan and her family in your hearts and prayers! We look forward to following her progress. For more information on Sandipani Muni and other programs run by Food for Life, please visit their website.

An adult woman is applying face paint to a young girl in a school uniform at an outdoor event with others sitting nearby.
A group of people, including two adults and a child, sit on the ground in front of a line of schoolgirls in uniforms. The adults and child are engaged in a traditional ritual or prayer, with offerings placed on mats in front of them. The schoolgirls
A young girl holding a panda stuffed animal, standing among a group of people, with a brick wall in the background.
A young girl with face paint and a checkered shirt is standing beside a cow inside a farm with barbed wire fencing and dried plants in the background.
Young girl in a red top and navy skirt takes a photo with her phone in a hallway next to a wooden door and green wall.
A young boy with medium skin tone and straight dark hair, smiling, wearing a colorful striped shirt, standing in front of a brick wall.