Daulat Rahman/Guwahati
Serving humanity through simple efforts is what Seema Hussain did when a few years back she threw open the living room of her luxuriant home to children from underprivileged families for coaching and tuition to help them cope with studies at her residential locality of Hatigaon in Guwahati.
She named it the People in Serving Assam (PISA), and set up an NGO with this name in 2016. Today, PISA is providing free coaching to the underprivileged and poor students, bearing the cost of higher education in the case of meritorious students. Seema Hussain, the mother of two, who prefers to shy away from the media glare, told Awaz-the Voice that it all began when she opened up her home for children from her locality.
“These children had attended the vernacular medium government schools and were deprived of quality education. A student of class IV (4) could not even read books of class II (2). I and some activists like Sahid Rizvi Bora and Kavita Talukdar used to take free tuition classes five days a week.
Picnic and fun times for children being helped in studies by PISA
Saturdays were reserved for Art classes. Our efforts paid off and the children were doing better academically after our coaching. As the word spread the number of students exceeded and we had to employ teachers to carry on,” Seema Hussain said.
Since underprivileged and poor children were deprived of many more things in life, Seema Hussain and other PISA members decided to expand their activities beyond teaching.
“Birthday parties, the celebration of all important festivals, and excursions within and outside Guwahati were included. The joy and the smiles were our rewards when we took them (poor and underprivileged children) to swanky malls, treated them in KFC, and made them watch movies in PVR cinemas. During major holidays we would make trips to nearby tea gardens where they got to know what garden life was all about.
Seema and other members of PISA celebrating Christmas with children
“However, all our education and coaching-related activities came to a halt when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world in the early part of 2020. Schools were shut down and most of the children whose parents were maids, rickshaw pullers, pushcart workers, or trash collectors went off to their villages as lockdown and curfew were clamped in Guwahati,” Seema Hussain said.
In March 2020, the PISA started feeding the hungry amidst the lockdown. It started by distributing dry rations to the families living in the slums of Hafeeznagar in Bamunimaidam, Bhetapara, and along railway lines.
PISA volunteer Gautam Saha, an early riser, would fill his car with packets of bread and milk. He would go around distributing the food to those sleeping on pavements and footpaths.
Ramzan of 2020 coincided with the peak of Covid-19 and the consequent nationwide lockdown. During this period, PISA distributed packets containing eggs, grams, dates, and biryani during the entire month. PISA volunteers with active help from Syed Maruf and his brother Javed cooked and distributed Iftaar until the last day of Ramzan.
PISA volunteers distributing blankets in winter
“During those difficult days negotiating the deadly pandemic was not easy for anyone especially the poor who overnight lost their jobs and any means of livelihood. We (PISA members) were asked to share our phone numbers with those who were very vulnerable. We were at hand to help anyone any time of the day or night. Initially, going to feed the distressed people was also not easy. From taking out passes to joining hands with the Assam Police and Sikh brothers, our volunteers somehow managed to tide over the difficult pandemic days,” Sahid Rizvi Bora, the most active member of PISA said.
With the pandemic nearly ending, PISA restarted its free coaching and is also bearing the expenses of four students, including a girl, for their higher education. One boy Bobidul Islam will soon complete his D. Pharm (Diploma in Pharmacy) from the prestigious University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya (USTM). Bobidul’s mother goes from door to door asking for alms. The second person Momin Khezer, brought up by her mother single-handedly is in class 12 Science stream while the other two are studying in high school.
“It was sheer destiny that they came in contact with PISA due to which their lives are on track now. We will be guiding them until they are settled with jobs and a secure means of livelihood,” Seema Hussain.
Seema Hussain preparing and distributing food during lockdown
Seema Hussain says there are a lot of people sleeping hungry every night. “Whenever the PISA gets a call from a wedding party or any event where food is surplus, we collect the excess food and distribute it immediately among the poor and the hungry,” she said.
PISA also distributes warm clothes and blankets in and around the city.
“I listen to my heart. I think not with my head but from my heart. So, whenever I find that someone somewhere needs our help we jump in, without thinking about where the money would come from. But somehow, we manage to make things work out. People around us are generally kind. If I need to buy a laptop for someone and I don’t know where I will get the money from, a kind soul will do the needful.”
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