Mennonite Central Committee

First Person: Ayesha Kader

From the March/April 2008 issue of “A Common Place”

I grew up in the city of Kolkata. When I was a child, my parents and my sister and I lived together in a one-room flat. As the oldest daughter, it was my job to carry water to our home in buckets from the pipe down the street.

My mother always said she wanted me to work in an office and do a 9-to-5 job — something she wasn’t able to do.

She was determined I would be educated in an English medium school (a school with classes taught in English as well as languages such as Hindi or Bengali). But our family could not afford that.

A Salvation Army social worker in Kolkata paid for my schooling. As a boarding student, I was also chosen to sing in some church choirs and received a few rupees for that — money I used for items such as shampoo that my mother considered a luxury.

Through MCC’s Global Family program, I was able to attend a one-year training course in stenography after high school. I did field training with a British company, then later got a job with a company that sold hardware and machinery. I was the only woman working there. In 1980, I began working as a receptionist at MCC’s office in Kolkata.

Today I supervise the India office of MCC’s Global Family program, which helps support the education of hundreds of students. We talk to students and get to know their families. We keep track of how they are doing in school. Sometimes Global Family provides tutoring. Most students’ parents weren’t able to go very far in school, so they struggle to help their children with lessons or homework.

I started a project where students sponsored by Global Family can donate to funds that will be used to help others. Parents and school principals work with us to make this a success. The amount students give is not much, but it gives them a practice of sharing with others.

I encourage students to work hard, to keep trying and to know that they can succeed.

I know, I tell them. I am the fruit of this department’s work.

Today, my husband and I have an apartment in Kolkata with running water, electricity and other basic facilities that I didn’t have as a child. I have the office job my mother dreamed of, and I’m able to help others.

For all these benefits, I am thankful to one person and that is the almighty God — giver of life, who has immensely blessed me and helped me not to falter but has showed me the right path to follow.

I have found such joy in my work. I am moved to tears when I see our Global Family students do well. They often become the sole breadwinner in the family. I take joy in seeing them care for their parents and celebrate as they build dedicated and responsible lives.

Ayesha Kader supervises MCC’s Global Family program in India.