Impacting Lives

Sushma Kumari, a 16-year-old student of Class 11 at S.K.S. Public School (a low-resource budget school) in Kaliaganj, in Bihar, was on the brink of being married off. Her parents believed it was time. After all, she was a girl, and “ladkiyon ki shaadi to jaldi hi ho jaani chahiye” (girls should be married off early).

At first glance, Sahil seemed like the kind of student every parent would be proud of - confident, composed and well-mannered. The Class 8 student from S.N Public School (a low-resource budget school) in northeast Delhi was the first to fill out the mental well-being screening form. He did it quickly, without hesitation. His teachers had no complaints either. He studied regularly, played outside, and shared everything with his mother. He even got help from his father with studies. In his own words, “Sab theek hai (everything is fine).”

Sangeeta had been married for three years. She and her husband were trying to conceive - a journey she had hoped would be joyful, if not simple. But when her husband was diagnosed with diabetes during a routine check-up, joy gave way to worry.

Twelve-year-old Reyansh from Y.B Public School (a low-resource budget school), in migrant-dominated northeast Delhi had always been the quiet type. He rarely spoke in class, kept to himself, and spent most of his time alone. Teachers thought he was just shy. But the results of Reyansh’s mental well-being screening carried out as part of the TeenBook Student Well-Being Program told a different story.

At Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Delhi, the Project Sshakti team, part of a Development Consortium initiative that supports people living with HIV, encountered a challenging LFU (Lost to Follow-Up) case. Neetu Sharma, a 26-year-old woman in her eighth month of pregnancy.