Surely all mothers are extraordinary? Well, Radha certainly is. Living in one of the poorest communities in the village of Danga in West Bengal and bringing up three children all by herself is certainly not easy, yet amidst all these difficulties she maintains a cheerful front.

I spent sometime with her talking about her life and came away humbled that a person who has so much hardship can still be so open and loving especially towards her children. What touched me most was that when requested for a photo with one of her daughters she got up and hugged her daughter and wanted a photo of that moment.

This is almost unheard of in rural communities in West Bengal were hugging is not that common – and a widowed mother hugging her ten year old daughter that too in front of strangers is most certainly a no, no.

This is what Radha said: I lost my husband recently. He could not handle the pressures of poverty and just lost the will to live, but I still have the zest for living especially for my children Piyali, Pinki and Suman.

Without a husband I have to earn money for the family. I am a daily worker as I cannot afford to take on any permanent work like that of a domestic help. Domestic help would mean spending long hours away from my children and though the money would be good they would be deprived of my company and would have no one to look after them or supervise their studies. I cannot help them in their studies but I keep an eye on them making sure that they are studying.  Life is not easy, in fact things are really tough, but all my three children are sponsored and their education and healthcare, the two most important things are being taken care of by their sponsors.

Often we do not have enough to eat, but we have each other, and sponsorship program to help my children reach their dreams of making it big in life even in the midst of such poverty and hopelessness. The program is gradually instilling in them the courage to pursue their goals unhampered by any limits and I can see the change in them. My heartfelt thanks to my children’s sponsors for being there for us always.