A decade ago, we visited a small home in the village of Salehpat, Sindh. There, on a charpoy (woven bed), sat a shy little girl in her TCF School uniform and her feeble old grandmother. Five-year-old Madiha had just been brought into school by her Principal, Madam Saima Memon, who had seen her begging alongside her grandmother in the busy marketplace.

Barefoot under the blazing sun, Madiha was wading through throngs of busy shoppers with a begging bowl in her hand when Ms. Saima saw her for the first time.

“She held out the palm of her hand,” Ms. Saima recalls with a bright smile. “I saw a strange gleam of hope in her eyes when she looked at me. I took her little hand in mine and asked, ‘Dhee (daughter), would you like to be in school instead?’ Her face lit up instantly!”

Fast forward 10 years, we met Madiha again! This time we saw her as a confident young girl who was preparing for her Board Exams. “She is the brightest student in the class, with 100% attendance,” her teacher said.

Madiha’s self-confidence was shining through. A little girl who was on the verge of losing her future to beggary was saved. “I want to end this social problem of beggary and do not want to see any boy or girl spending their childhood begging on the streets,” said Madiha, somberly.

On this International Children’s Day, we urge you to take responsibility for supporting one child’s education. With your Donations, Zakat or Sadqah, you can keep a child in school. Please join the movement to turn lives around through the power of education.