Achieving her goals

Sponsored youth Pinky is thankful her sponsorship helped her achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse, and now she helps COVID-19 patients.

January 19, 2021 | Be Inspired

Helping others by achieving her dream


Sometimes dreams really do come true.

Sponsored youth Pinky in India made her dream of becoming a nurse a reality through hard work and perseverance. The hospital in Poraiyahat, India, where she is doing her nursing internship is designated as a COVID-19 treatment center, so she's putting her skills to work helping patents afflicted by the pandemic.

According to the Times of India, India has seen almost 10.6 million COVID-19 cases with more than 150,000 deaths. Pinky is in her final year of nursing studies, which includes an internship at a hospital. She is one of eight nurses helping look after approximately 30 COVID-19 patients.
I feel good serving them. I get to learn a lot by attending different kinds of patients, like how to take care of patients, which medicines to be used and how to care for them.

— Pinky, a nursing intern in India

Changing a family's life


Pinky was first sponsored in 2003 at the age of 6. She and her family live near Bhagalpur, which is in northeast India. At the time she was sponsored, her father had to travel to Mumbai, more than 40 hours away by car, to find work. Her mother didn't have a job and the family's financial situation was dire. Pinky's sponsorship came when the family needed it most.

Unbound sponsorship is self-directed, and families of sponsored children prioritize what they need most and how they will use the support from their sponsor. Local staff visit with families regularly to listen to them and identify how Unbound can help the child and family achieve their goals.

"That time I was very small, but once the priest had told me I was getting support for studying I knew that I would make progress in life and so I should study well," Pinky said.

Photo 1: (R-L) Pinky and her siblings, Peter and Mary, stand with their parents, Ursula and Jawahar, in front of their home in India. Photo 2: Pinky studies in her bedroom.

What sponsorship can do


Education can help reduce poverty but tuition, supplies and transportation are expensive. Many students must choose between continuing their education and providing much-needed income for their families. This leads to higher dropout rates at each level of school. With sponsorship Pinky was able to go to the local parish school, which offered a better education, setting her on the path to success.

She kept her determination to study well and achieved high marks throughout her educational career. But sponsorship is more than funding for education and other needs. It's also about building relationships.

Child sponsorship creates a connection between the sponsor and sponsored friend that spans geographic, economic and social boundaries. It provides an opportunity to form a relationship based on listening, encouragement and mutual respect. Relationships have been at the heart of Unbound since the organization’s founding in 1981 and have transformed countless lives.

Anne Gullo in Delaware has sponsored Pinky since 2010, and she has felt the positive effects of being a sponsor.

"I enjoy receiving the letters and hearing about the progress the children are making," Gullo said. "It's been great to see how much Pinky has accomplished. She is always so polite and informs me of how her education is going. She is very motivated, so it's nice to know I've been able to help her [in] reaching her goals."

With Anne's support and their own ingenuity, Pinky's family is in a much better place than they were in 2003. Her father is back home and has a job as a driver for the local parish, while her mother works teaching kindergarten. Her younger siblings are both able to study.

As Pinky finishes her own studies while serving others, she’s thankful for the help she received to achieve her dream of becoming a nurse.

"If I did not have sponsorship then it would have been impossible to achieve my aim" Pinky said. "It changed my life a lot."

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