This blog is the fourth in our series of stories of “Women Who Inspire” for International Women’s Day 2014.

Najma Rashid finds inspiration in her work every day. She has worked with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in a variety of capacities for nearly 21 years, focusing on early childhood education. Currently, she serves as the Early Childhood Development Technical Advisor for the Aga Khan Foundation (East Africa). In this role, she provides technical guidance to all Aga Khan Foundation early childhood development (ECD) programs throughout East Africa and other areas where AKDN operates.

“Seeing many poor parents − most of them had no opportunity to complete primary school − working hard to sustain quality education for their kids,” says Najma, “and the children taking responsibility for their education and breaking the vicious cycle of poverty − this is what inspires me to continue what I do!”

One story about a disabled boy she met sticks with her.

“While working in a very poor community in Kwale, Kenya, I came across a disabled boy of about five years old playing in dirty sand while his grandfather watched over him. I wanted to find out why the boy was not in the community preschool just 50 meters away. His grandfather told me he was not able to enroll the boy because he was disabled.”

“That shocked me.” Najma continues, “I asked my new friend if he was interested in going to school. His eyes lit up, and he said ‘yes’ with big smile on his face. I promised him that I would see that he got enrolled at the preschool the following day.”

“I talked to the head teacher to find out why the boy was not enrolled. The head teacher was apologetic. He thought the boy’s physical disability would make it hard for him to adapt to the school and socialize. After talking, however, we agreed that the boy’s disability was no reason to deny him an education and that he should be allowed to attend school. He was enrolled the next day.”

The boy finished preschool, did well. Najma was able to get him to a special boarding primary school. She helped him access a therapist and doctors, with support from Rotary Club and the Port Reitz hospital, who performed a series of operations to address his condition. Now the boy has completed secondary school.

“This just shows how a little interest and a lot of passion can change an individual path in life,” Najma concludes. “I shall never forget the light in that boy’s eyes when asked if he wanted to go to school.”