The Miracle Maker
The story of Simran
This is a short documentary which Human Rights Tattoo (HRT) made at Tiny Miracles. The HRT project is an art project to create awareness and underline the importance of Human Rights. We invited them to tattoo some of the women our in Pardeshi community. Simran is one of them. She has been with Tiny Miracles since the beginning. Documentary sponsored by ASN Bank.
The story of Simran
One of the first girls to receive financial support.
One of the first girls to receive financial support to attend English high school, Simran is now a successful woman in the community at only 19 years old with a new outlook on life since Tiny Miracles started to collaborate with the Pardeshi community in 2011.
Back then Simran was living in a tiny wooden room in the heart of the slum, with her two sisters, her brother and parents. Her father, a cane worker who like many others suffered from the declining market and increasingly irregular orders, saw no way to afford send his children to school.
Her mother did her best trying to support the family with the little money she made by stitching school uniforms. When she had Simran’s age, she was lliterate and lived on the streets of Delhi, with no hopes or dreams for the future. Within one generation though, the outlook on the future for Simran’s family changed drastically.
The story of Simran
On her way to become a banker.
Working towards a future
With the help of Tiny Miracles scholarship program Simran successfully completed English medium high school and now studies Commerce at University, where she follows courses such as Accountancy, Marketing and Financial Law.
The road has not always been easy, of course: “when you go to school, a lot of things need be taken care of, such as clean uniforms, study materials…but how can I ask my family for that? This was not easy. Because of the stress my father even suffered from paralytic attacks..”
In order to provide for such materials and to pay the 50% of the university fee that Tiny Miracles does not provide for, Simran has her “student job” with the Tiny Miracles IGP program making vases and leather lampshades.
Her work is so valued that she was even offered a staff job which she declined so she can focus on her priorities: finishing her studies to become financially independent and help her family to break the poverty cycle. Given her good grades at college, this now seems a realistic plan rather than a faraway dream!
Inspired by both her economic studies and by Pepe’s designs, Simran is deciding between working in the fashion design sector or as a banker. One thing she knows for sure though, is that she wants to save lots of money: “Tiny Miracles taught all women in the community about using a bank account, about saving money.. to me saving now even became a hobby!!”.
Being able to say no
As her brother started studying as well and her mother also joined Tiny Miracles IGP, the road to a better future for Simran and her family is becoming increasingly realistic. Still, Simran has some obstacles to overcome, mainly related to community traditions and values: “In this community, women are expected to marry at an early age. Whether or not they are allowed to work afterwards, often depends on the husband’s will”. However, determined to be financially independent in the future, and informed by the Tiny Miracles social awareness programs on gender and marital relations, Simran felt empowered to reject the first candidate who wanted to marry her and stay true to her own beliefs and feelings.
