Story of Young Rizwanul Janna

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Every day, young children lose one or both of their parents, forcing them onto a difficult path. Many orphaned children must make their way through life’s challenges on their own, without the priceless benefit of parental love and guidance. Others face the hardship of losing a parent who is the main income source for the family, leaving only a single parent - often the mother - to raise her children under the constant threat of poverty.

Zakat Foundation of America strives to ensure that orphans and vulnerable children in these difficult circumstances have a fair chance at a good, flourishing life through its long-running Orphan Sponsorship Program (OSP). Rizwanul Janna, an enterprising young woman who lost her father, used the help provided to her and her mother by Zakat Foundation of America to unlock her own potential and thrive despite the major shock of losing a parent.

She recently passed the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination in her country of Sri Lanka, a highly selective exam conducted by the Ministry of Education that determines which students will go on to study tuition-free in Sri Lanka’s public university system. To give a sense of her accomplishment: Last year, over 300,000 students took the exam, but only around 27,000 of them passed at a high enough level to have all tuition and board paid by the government. Ms. Janna is among that elite cohort this year. Now a bright future of education and professional fulfilment awaits her. She hopes to study and train to be a nurse, and says that “the smiling faces of others” makes her happy.

Ms. Janna was able to excel and achieve her potential in part because of donors who support Zakat Foundation of America’s OSP efforts. Every child is a success story waiting to happen, no matter how hard his or her circumstances may be. Please help write that story for a promising young boy or girl by donating to the Zakat Foundation of America Orphan Sponsorship Program today.

Categories: Stories