Fager wanted to go to school so badly but her parents could only scrape together enough to send her older sister. Fager waited. She asked her father not to buy any more chicken (a rare luxury) for the family but instead save that money to help pay her school fees. It broke her Father’s heart that he could not fulfill this simple desire of his bright and motivated little girl. Each year she begged to go to school and her Father had to tell her there was no money.

Then in 2009 I visited Srinigar, the capitol of Kashmir, for the first time. I was not quite sure why I was there. Yes, I’d been urged by a Kashmiri friend to visit his homeland and yes, I was able to stay on his family’s houseboat on the lake. But still, it happened sort of on impulse. By the end of my visit I realized that I had been pulled there by the desire of two girls who desperately wanted to go to school. Fate had intervened. I would meet these two girls, learn their stories and end up finding sponsorship for them.

When I broke the good news to Fager that kind people in the U.S. were going to pay her school fees and she could finally go to school, she buried her head in her Daddy’s lap and burst into tears. Then she sat up and grinned the biggest smile I think I have ever seen. A year on, she is now first in her class! Fager wants to be an airline pilot.

Sumeena is 20 years old. She is the first woman in her family to be educated. Her Mother (like Fager’s) is illiterate. Sumeena is a poised, practical, smart young woman. She wants to be of assistance to her family and to make enough money to be able to send her young brother to school. She managed to finish college but now needs further education to be qualified to teach. Her family, like so many in Kashmir are struggling to make ends meet. Shanti is now sending Sumeena to the two year program she requires. When she finishes she will be in the position to get a good job teaching and to make a huge impact on the welfare of her entire family, not to mention fulfilling her potential and her dreams.

These days the news from Kashmir is not good and I am worried about my friends there. I envision the beautiful vale of Kashmir, the surrounding mountains and the lotus covered Dal Lake and in my mind I now hear gun fire and shouts. For the first time in many years, Kashmir is aflame with political protest and the harsh retaliation of Indian security forces. I am praying for the safety and future of people there that I care for.

I especially hold close these two young girls, their families and their dream to make a better life. I pray they will have an opportunity to contribute to a better and more peaceful Kashmir.