The 80 year old Teacher Who Sold her House to Run a School for the Underprivileged

Growing up, young Beula Gabriel would watch with fascination as her mother – a doctor based in Secunderabad in present day Telengana – would bring home rural girls, educate them and then help get them enrolled for training to become nurses. Watching the efforts made by her mother instilled the value of education on the young eight-year-old, something that would determine the course of her life.

Beula Gabriel grew up knowing exactly what she wanted to become – a teacher who would help children who could not afford education.

She achieved that dream with the St Joseph’s Secondary School that she founded in 1993. At a time when parents were being screened as acutely as children for admission to schools, Beula went a different route – she prioritized those children who had been rejected due to academic, social or financial reasons. 

Today, the school boasts a strength of 300 students every academic year with classes from kindergarten to tenth standard, with most students coming from the lower middle class with parents working as rickshaw drivers, watchmen and manual labourers. While some pay a nominal fee, most children are educated for free. As can be expected, the school runs on goodwill and often faces various hardships with the school unable to even pay the rent to the building landlord at times. 

Beula Gabriel’s children chip in too when they can with the finances. Things got so hard that the teacher even ended up selling the home she lived in to pay for the school salaries and rent, just to ensure the children's access to the education they deserve did not get taken away. 

Even after thousands of children have successfully passed out of her school over nearly 3 decades, Beula Gabriel continues to work hard to teach the young children who walk past the doors of her school. 

She can look back with pride though – the first generation who passed out from here are today doctors, engineers, financial advisors and armed force personnel across the nation. 

All thanks to an 80-year-old woman who took a chance on them when no one else would.

Author's note:

Since 2017, every year, I take up the #BlogchatterA2Z challenge and focus on showcasing lovely real-life heroes from around the world. The aim is to remind you that there is still plenty of good human beings all around you... to inspire you to smile once more.

Want more stories of compassion? 

I have Hundreds of 'Heroes of Kindness' to brighten your day here. 

Earlier editions can be viewed from the links below:

2017 edition (Articles - 40, Heroes - 67)

2018 edition (Articles - 34, Heroes - 52)

2019 edition (Articles - 31, Heroes - 42)

2020 edition (Articles - 30, Heroes - 64)

2021 edition 

Indian edition

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The 2020 Edition is also available as a book on Kindle too, if you want it that wayyy! (India/ US)