Najmmen’s story is heartbreaking yet full of hope. Here she is with two of her 5 children.
Najmmen is 40 years old. She is a single mother with 5 children. After her husband died of heart disease 12 years ago, Najmeen had to sell her home and her jewellery and possessions to pay off the many medical bills. Her 5 young children were hungry and homeless. Her seven year old son (12 years at the time) had to become a vegetable seller. Najmeen worked hard as a house maid. She also had to endure epilepsy. Her illness is now so bad, she cannot work. Her son’s work and look after their mother. All 6 family members live in a small rented room. Najmeen loved attending SHINE last year and she cannot wait for this year’s conference. She loved the sense of equality with no discrimination. She loved the freedom and joy of dancing where she forgot about all of her sorrows and troubles.,
Najmeen is 40 years old. She is mother of 5 children. Juned (21yrs) Jamshed (19 years) Shaqib (17 years) Mariyam (14 years) and Maaz Aalam (12 yrs). Najmeen is a widow. Her husband passed away twelve years ago. He was a vegetable seller, he passed away due to his heart disease. Najmeen says she sold her home and all her belongings like jewellery for the treatment of her husband. After the death of her husband her life became miserable. Her children were small and she was uneducated. She suffered a lot. She worked as house maid in various homes. She gets epileptic fits. One day her husband’s friend came to visit them and said that her elder son can come to the market to sell vegetables and he will help him. So from the next day Juned started selling vegetables. So the necessities of home runs through the daily wages of Najmeen and Juned. Juned had to leave his studies to earn money.
Now the family of 6 lives in a small rented room. Shaqib and Juned now sells vegetables and Jamshed drives a rented auto rikshaw. Due to the disease of epilepsy Najmeen have to left her work. Now three of her sons run the home and take care of their mother’s medication. Mariyam and Maaz Aalam goes to a government school as they can’t afford a private school.
The family is thankful to ‘Project Help’ that they have admitted Mariyam to their center, due to which she have proper meal and education. She now teaches her younger brother too.
For Shine Conference Najmeen says she loves the conference as there is no discrimination, she loves the freedom of dancing and enjoys what she learns and experineces at the conference. She loves the sessions and enjoys them. She takes the knowledge and spreads it into the community.