Mehzabeen Shaikh

Mehzabeen Shaikh

My name is Mehzabeen Shaikh. I am from Bombay hotel. I have one elder sister and one younger brother. I live with my mother and siblings in a one room-kitchen-bathroom rental house. I was in 5th grade when I started working in a cottage factory. I used to fold cloths and pack the cloths (nightdress). My father left us when I was 14 years old. I used to get to private school. After school I used to help my mother make flower garlands, do glitter work on cloths, fold scarves, make kites etc. This had become our family business, as my sister also helped us. I left the school after 2 months. I went to a small factory to cut extra treads of cloths that were manufactured there. I worked there till mid 2013.

I met one of the Kadam volunteer, when they come to my area for a survey. She suggested my mother to join a job, instead of working as a daily wager. My mother joined Center For Development. My sister started volunteering in Kadam workshops. After this, my sister joined Kadam. At that time, I used to do the same work i.e. making flower garlands. A boy, from my neighborhood harassed me, while I was sleeping at night. He had drugs and he was out of his senses. I got a really scared, so I woke up my sister and my mother. They beat boy and he ran away.

The next day, mother had a meeting in Kadam. I went along with her to that meeting, where I met Meera ben. She suggested my mother to send me to Kadam. I went to Kadam office to meet Meera ben along with my sister. Meera ben asked me if wanted to study further, what I wished to do further and how do I see my self in the near future. Next time I had a talk with Meera ben on call. My mother had left her phone at home. Meera ben called and asked me come alone. She said she would talk to me through out the way. This was the first time had left home all alone, by my self and I reached HDRC. She explained me how Kadam works. She also informed me about the extra classes taken by Kadam at the old center. I started studying there. My father, who had left us already, got to know about my mother working and my sister and I taking tuitions at Kadam. He opposed this. Meera ben asked my mother to ask my father to met her. Meera ben explained him that the environment of Kadam is safe. The daughters are taught techniques to keep themselves safe. Hence no daughter is unsafe. I started taking training of office assistant. I also attended a workshop on self-defense. I worked at CFD for a short while as a trainee but with a 4000/- salary. I worked for 6 months in CFD. I was promoted to a new project. In this project we made sanitary pads at a low cost for women of BPL section. I worked in that project for 1 year. I did two life skill courses (beauty parlor and sewing) by my self. I gave 10th grade exam through GBSE. I failed because I had shifted from Urdu medium to Gujarati medium. I reappeared for the exam through NIOUS. I failed in 2 subjects again. I took a break for 1 year and worked on my academics. Along with that I went to HDRC to take a general training for jobs. I gave 2 Interviews for a job. I was not selected. For two months after this, I came to Kadam’s center for tuitions. I got a job at a mall, which was quite far from my home. It was a one and a half hour commute. I worked there for 6 months because the manager asked me to stay for longer time periods then they asked me to work in the interview). This had become a major problem for my safety. I got an offer from CHD (child help line department). I took the offer and I have been working there for almost two years now.

If I talk about the positive changes I noticed in myself after I joined Kadam. It a long list. To start with, I gained self-confidence. I didn’t travel alone, I was scared of strangers and I used to hide behind my mother if I met someone for the first time. I don’t that anymore. I speak to unknown people and start a conversation if I have to. I got trained for making a healthy and logical conversation. Suppose, I call some one, I ask ‘do you have a minute to talk?’ If they say yes, then only I go ahead. I learned to talk logically. Earlier, I was scared of English language. Now as I study the language, I still get nervous but not as much as used to get earlier. I am trying to speak English and use English words in my day-to-day life.