She passed. Grade A. And she’s just getting started.

When I first visited a village called Bachal Goth, Sonia was one of the first people I met.

She didn’t wait for me to explain EBB. She already knew she wanted to study. She just didn’t know if it was still possible.

Sonia is 25. Her family is large; her parents, two brothers, nine sisters. Her father is elderly. Her mother’s health has been failing for years. They live in a rented house that floods when the rain comes. In 2022, the floods hit hard. Her brother’s work stopped. Money ran out. The family made a decision: Zakia would get married.

She has two children now. Her husband is a daily wage worker. Some months there’s income, some months there isn’t. To help, she had been doing embroidery work from home. Traditional work, the kind that’s been done in this part of Sindh for generations. She’d spend two, three weeks on a piece and earn around 3,000 rupees, if she could find a client. Some months, she couldn’t find anyone.

She wanted to study. She just wasn’t allowed to leave the house.

When I spoke with her, she just wanted to sit her matric exams. She wanted to keep going. I met with her husband. I met with her in-laws. We talked for a long time. Eventually, they agreed, on the condition that she stayed home. That was the condition. And that’s exactly what EBB is built for.

We got her books. We covered her exam registration. A Devotee came to her. She studied from inside her home, around her children, around her responsibilities, around everything life was still asking of her.

In April 2025, she sat her SSC Part II exams — the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Sukkur. She passed.

Grade A.

She’s now enrolled for HSC (Higher Secondary School Certificate). She’s also starting a small business at home with an in-kind startup grant from EBB, materials she can actually work with, and connections to buyers so she’s not waiting and hoping for a client to show up.

She told me she could see light. I believe her.

Written by Sana Ijaz, Founder of EBB, April 2026.