Making a Difference in People’s Lives, One Step at a Time: Reshma Khan

Reshma Khan is a Medico, MRI technologist, paramedic trainer, dietician, homemaker, and mother of one.

There is no limit to what women can accomplish, and she’s the true example of it.

Born in Uttar Pradesh, her parents migrated to Mumbai in the early 1990s for a better life. She married at the age of 20 to a joint family, but that didn't stop her from pursuing her education. She completed her master's along with seven different diploma courses and became the co-founder of the Kurla Voice Foundation. During the peak COVID years, she worked at the NESCO COVID Center and treated more than 13,000 positive patients. She indeed was a COVID warrior, serving in her PPE kit as a medico and as a social worker on the ground, conducting food drives, ration distribution, providing necessary medicines, and so on.

Her views on running an NGO are very vigilant. If she undertakes a task, she tends to complete it and remove the problem from its core.

For instance, her NGO didn't just provide rations and necessities to the people residing in the slum; they also aimed to eradicate the problem from its roots. She recalls how twelve- to thirteen-year-old girls played with the volunteers during the day with all their childhood innocence, and the same young girls stood as prostitutes during the night. Education and proper knowledge of their legal rights were things that were lacking among the residents of that area, so she and her NGO got them enrolled in schools and made sure that their education empowered women through generous individuals and her NGO.

She’s working to eradicate malnutrition, empower women, provide street education, and take care of widows, orphans, and specially abled people.

Awards: She’s determinedly working towards making the lives of unprivileged people better, and for that, she has been awarded many notable awards, such as

Awards:

1. COVID Warrior Award (Maharashtra) 2021

2. She Inspires Award (Women of Substance Network) by Hypedge Media 2021

3. The Versatile Women Award by the CVMD 2022

4. Best Social Worker by the Real Imperial Award

5. International Brilliance Award 2022

6. Humanitarian Excellence Award 2022

7. Women Changemakers: Excellence in Medical Education 2023

8. Women's Excellence Award 2023

She received appreciation from many celebrities and politicians, too.

Her only motivation is the joy and satisfaction it brings when a person in need is helped by her, which is incomparable, and according to her, this is enough to keep her steadfast in her work. The warm hugs, bright, wide smiles, and lots of prayer that she gets are more important to her than anything else.

Even though life didn’t treat her kindly, she had her worst times too, but that only made her stronger with each passing day. She suffered family problems, a financial crisis, the death of her newborn baby, miscarriages, etc., but each incident put more gentleness and compassion in her. Throughout this, her husband and family were always there to pick her up, and with their encouragement, she kept achieving milestones.

Reshma’s deep insight helps her to find the root problem, and in her opinion, the only step that can eradicate poverty and bring ease to people’s lives is providing education and skill-based courses to underprivileged people, which will help them to sustain their lives with self-respect by having employment opportunities. And for that, she aims to build a free school that will provide modern education with technology.

Her life quote is simple: Success isn't about how much money you make; it's about the difference you make in people's lives.