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Fit the Soul’s Wonder Woman of January, Shahla Ettefagh!

Meet Shahla Ettefagh, the founder of Mother Miracle School, which educates impoverished children to be leaders in the digital age. She is Iranian by birth, American by citizenship, and Indian at heart.

In 1995, she visited India for the first time with a group of friends. She complained incessantly about the noise, the traffic, the garbage, the stench, the flies, the mosquitoes, the list was endless… until a three-year-old girl stopped her in her tracks. Shahla was travelling through Bihar in the middle of winter and the group had stopped for a cup of tea at a roadside stall. She sat there dressed in designer clothes, and a little girl with matted hair, a dress with a broken zipper, and no footwear walked up to Shahla and pointed to her cup of tea. When Shahla gave it to her, the girl didn’t drink the tea but used the glass to warm her freezing body.

Shocked, Shahla wrapped her arms around the girl. In her words, ‘That was it. With my eyes closed, hugging the girl, I had a flashback to my life of privilege. I saw myself skiing in Gstaad, on a yacht in Nice, shopping in Paris, and at a casino in London. I had a three-storey, four-bedroom house outside of San Francisco, with four walk-in closets full of designer clothes and shoes, many with the tags still attached’. On seeing these images, Shahla woke up to the fact that she had been carelessly wasting her money on travelling, partying, drinking, and shopping.

Shahla wanted to take the girl with her to the USA. She argued with her friends, who told her that was impossible. But Shahla couldn’t let go. That was a pivotal moment in her life. For the first time, she empathised with people living in poverty. Of course she had always known that poverty was everywhere, but she had chosen to turn a blind eye—it wasn’t her problem and she didn’t want to get involved. But then in the brief moments she shared with that little girl, her consciousness expanded in every direction and she found herself experiencing a strange new sense of compassion. There was just one question on her mind: why should she have so much money while this child was freezing and needed a cup of tea to warm her tiny body?

For the rest of the trip, the sounds of the car horns no longer registered in her ears and the rotten smells that had disgusted her so much at the start of the trip made no difference to Shahla. The group travelled on through India, but Shahla’s thoughts stayed with that girl. She knew then that her life would be meaningless unless she changed how she lived. When Shahla returned to San Francisco, she stopped drinking and partying and even became a vegetarian. Around the same time, she had the opportunity to expand her art and architecture practice. Instead she chose to sell her practice, her home, and her collection of art and expensive furniture. She then said goodbye to her family and friends and, in 2002, about seven years after her first trip to India, she moved to Rishikesh with just one suitcase to set up a school for children from slums in the area.

She was completely unfamiliar with the local culture and did not know anyone in town. Naturally, she faced countless challenges and obstacles, including government bureaucracy, all-day electricity blackouts, a lack of running water, old and cramped classrooms, and flooding during the monsoon. But every challenge only made her stronger and she never considered giving up. She says that yoga and meditation gave her strength and peace during tough times. Through the evolution of this project, Shahla has landed in a new, wonderful, and magical world where all of her dreams have been coming true and all her talents put to good use. She has even applied her architectural skills to building the school’s infrastructure.

‘It took me years of perseverance and unconditional love to build Mother Miracle into what it is today: a registered non-profit organisation in India and the United States educating hundreds of highly intelligent youths and offering complimentary vocational programmes to thousands of adults, especially women’, Shahla reports. She began with nine kids in her apartment, and by April 2016, the school celebrated the completion of its four-storey flood-free school building with the capacity for 516 students.

The school was built with the belief that if children are given the best resources, they will do well in any field. Mother Miracle alumni have gone on to pursue neurosurgery, engineering, and doctorate- and master’s-level programmes in the United States and India. Once they are employed, each alumnus supports their needy families. Thus, the school’s impact ripples out to each child’s mother, father, brother, and sister to help break the cycle of poverty in the larger community. Additionally, each Mother Miracle graduate is required to pay it forward by sponsoring a student at the school. This completes the cycle and ensures a sustainable future for the institution.

Her journey has connected Shahla to special, generous, and kind people who are attracted to the project. ‘From my children, staff, sponsors, and volunteers, I have learned to be a loving, giving, and forgiving person with a bigger heart than I ever could have imagined for myself. Working with these people has transformed me from a selfish spender into a selfless person who lives to serve with unconditional love. I can now see that miracles really do happen’.

Wherever you are, look around at those who are not as privileged as you. Focus on being there for such people and creating change. Keep giving and working to better the lives of the less privileged. Strength comes from within and you have the power to do anything. Go forth and be a change maker!