From the Slums to the Summits: Why I’m Climbing for OSCAR

I grew up in the narrow lanes of a slum community in Mumbai where opportunity is rare and survival overshadows ambition. The OSCAR Foundation changed that for me. OSCAR gave me more than just football training, they gave me guidance, purpose and a belief that I could have a better life. I am very proud to be a key member of the OSCAR team.

Through OSCAR, I learned discipline on the pitch, was enrolled in school and taught values that go far beyond sport. They showed me a different path, one of hard work, hope and giving back. Without OSCAR, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, working to help children who face the same challenges I once did.

Now, I’m taking on one of the biggest challenges of my life: hiking in the Himalayas. This is the first time I will have attempted anything like this but I am determined to raise funds for the OSCAR community, to help us reach out to more and more young people. Every step I take is for a boy or girl in the slums who deserves the same opportunities I was given.

This trek is my way of giving back to the organisation that believed in me when I had no belief in myself.