Dear Friends,

Married at 17, mother at 18 and widowed at 19, and today Saba Khan is a 20-year-old General Duty Assistant at the Rotary Blood Bank, Noida. In today’s Rise for Good story we are sharing the last of a three-part series from the Tech Mahindra SMART Academy for Healthcare, New Delhi.

Born in a port family with three brothers, a mother and no father, Saba was married off at the tender age of 17 years to Riaz Khan who worked in an export house. Within a year, the young couple was blessed with a baby girl. Just when Saba felt that she could consider going back to school, fate struck a blow and Riaz Khan passed away in an accident.

Saba’s in-laws refused to take care of either Saba or her infant daughter. She went back to her mother’s house, where the burden of looking after her own daughter, her mother and two younger brothers fell squarely on Saba’s shoulders. Fortunately, Saba heard about the SMART Academy from one of the mobilizers.