Amid successive waves of the Covid pandemic, as many prefer to apologize citing the lack of livelihood, career and other growth opportunities in life, Sima Madkami, 15, has learned to everyone how not to lose hope in the face of uncertainty.

A grade 10 student at the Sitaguda Government SSD School for Girls, Sima has a huge need to learn and become at least a worthy person in life. The second child of Mukka Madkami from Tandapalli village, Sima’s story tells how God helps those who help themselves.

Coming from an agrarian family, Sima’s father owns an acre of land that he cultivates to feed his family of five. But this pandemic has broken its backbone like never before. For his family, forget about education, now earning means of survival is the most they can.

Despite extreme financial hardship, Sima managed to keep it intact to avoid dropping out of school, unlike her older sister who had to pack her bags to get home after class 10.

The year 2020 was an extremely difficult time for Sima as she could not keep up with her studies due to the school closings and she was even considering dropping out. But somehow she stuck with the decision not to quit school, believing the crisis might end in a few months.

But a year later, the situation was still the same when it came to education. As dark clouds began to accumulate over Sima’s future, she realized that it was still a long way off before the schools reopened and that she could continue her studies.

She didn’t want to lose though, so she made up her mind to make a bold decision. Sima wasted no time traveling to the jungle where she collected Mahula flowers and stored them for sale in the market. She continued to sell the flowers and even collected Mahula seeds until she could add up a significant sum of Rs 10,000 with which she brought a smartphone.

Now she effortlessly continues her studies Monday through Friday via the online platform. Expressing happiness that her persistence paid off, Sima said the new asset would help her a lot to continue her schooling and also take her beyond.

“I saw my other friends selling Mahula to buy mobiles, so I asked permission to go ahead and sell the flowers he accepted. Little by little, I managed to find a decent amount of money to buy a mobile. online studies during this pandemic. I take my lessons via live lessons on YouTube and Whatsapp, ”said Sima.

Regarding his family’s ordeal, Sima’s father said: “We live under extreme stress and I ask the state government to help my family and my daughter in this time of crisis.