Renu grew up in Sentul. Her family was not rich...worse still, Renu and her two younger sisters were born without identification cards, closing the door to public schooling, job opportunities and affordable medical access.

Renu's mother worked hard as a seamstress to support her family. She knew that education would change her daughter's future and wanted Renu to take a different path for her life.

When she found out about a learning centre in Sentul that accepted children regardless of their background - Dignity for Children Foundation - she enrolled Renu immediately!

Renu was eight years old then. She could not read or write, nor speak any English.
She was painfully shy.

But being in a safe environment at Dignity, she was able to make friends and grow in confidence as her teachers cared, nurtured and constantly encouraged her to try new things.

Renu continued in Dignity until her high school graduation - the first in her family to ever hold a secondary school certificate!

Imagine her family's joy!

Renu then became a teacher at Dignity so that other poor and vulnerable children could receive the opportunities she once was given.

“Today, my dream of becoming a teacher is realised. Instead of my make belief classroom and a stick as pointer when I was a child, I am now in a real classroom with real children.

I now care for children who have no clean clothes, malnourished and doing poorly in school. I feel for them, as I was like them years ago. I want to be able to impact their lives with what I do here and empower them to a better future.”