An ode to a math-e-magician

Currently, Uma has been working in tandem with The Lighthouse Cohort. This Dubai-based social enterprise creates and enables cohorts for international development and humanitarian aid. Uma is volunteering as part of a project cohort and teaches more than 230 children online. These children attend bi-weekly classes at Snehalay’s slum centers and at the school for kids affected by HIV/AIDS, those rescued from human trafficking, and orphans.

“When you look at student’s faces, and you see that smile and shine in their eyes of accomplishment, you get goosebumps. Fellow teachers say that I have started a movement to create a love for maths as children now come running for the 2 pm maths class. Lighthouse Cohort has helped me reach children from the interior of Maharashtra sitting from Dubai, and it is such a big gift for me. To share all that I know to make Math simple, fun, and easy is my goal. 200+ kids are learning now,” says a beaming Uma.

Aishwarya Joshi, Founder, The Lighthouse Cohort speaks of Uma’s noteworthy contribution to the cohort with huge respect, raving about it.“Madam Uma’s presence in our cohort for re-imagining education during Covid-19 has paved a sustainable path of least resistance not just for learning but also for teaching mathematics against all odds. Her creative, tireless, and one-pointed effort has transformed the stereotype world of grassroots education and created mascots to carry her knowledge forward for the benefit of many in rural India and beyond,” Aishwarya remarks. And with that, Uma wishes that more and more NGOs contact her so that she can reach out to more children and illuminate more lives by spreading the gift of education.