Sponsored by: ILSC - Montreal
Age: 19 years old
Educational background: Grade 7 completion
Family background: Jessica's parents live in Manipur (northeast of India), where they work on a farm. They earn a very meager income and are unable to fully support her. Jessica's aunt took her out of Manipur and moved her to Delhi, and she provides her with food and around $15 per month in allowance.
Dreams and ambitions: She wanted to be a nurse but had to give it up as the family could not afford her education. She wants to learn English as it will help her in the future and also allow her to take care of her parents. She hopes that getting a proper education will get her out of her current condition, because as of right now, she has little prospects for a good job or self-sufficiency.
Sponsored by: ILSC - Vancouver
Age: 24 years old
Educational background: Grade 5 completion
Family background: Mallika has a baby (18 months) and her husband works as a courier. She has two sisters.
Income: Her family earns around Rs5,000 ($125) per month.
Dreams and ambitions: She used to work as a domestic help. She wants to learn English as it will help her in getting a better job. She also feels that learning this language will aid in educating how own child and sending her to a good school. This is her dream as she and her husband could not get such an education. According to her, English is more widely spoken than her own native language of Hindi.