Seventeen years back, a nine-year-old girl accompanied her mother, a domestic help, to an NGO’s office, seeking admission to the primary school run by the organisation.

She was almost turned away because the NGO, Calcutta Social Project, was already educating two other children from the family. But the girl hung on to her mother, crying: “Why I will not be able to study?”

The head of the NGO then made an exception.

The girl, Moumita Halder, is now 26.

She is one of the coordinators for the girls’ shelter run by Calcutta Social Project and the supervisor of the online education programme of the organisation. While she makes a respectable living, Moumita also funds the computer education of two of her sisters, which costs her ₹10,000.

On Saturday, Moumita addressed students and their parents in a private school on how she has jumped at “every opportunity” that came her way, without thinking whether she would be successful or not.

She was a guest of honour at the annual prize day of Classes IX and XI at Mahadevi Birla World Academy.

Moumita, whose family is from Lakshmikantapur in South 24-Parganas, told her audience of students and parents how at the age of nine, when she was in Class III, she had to drop out of school.

“I wanted to study but there was no scope... but I always believe that if we speak up, there will be opportunities that will come our way. The same happened with me,” she said.

The challenges she faced only made her stronger.

“With every challenge I faced, I became stronger. My attitude is to never give up,” she said.

In her four-minute address, she motivated the girls to not give up, saying it is the right “mindset” that helps one make a difference.

“I am what I choose to become. It doesn’t matter who you are and where you come from, but how you face the challenges makes a difference in your life,” she said.

Arjun Dutta, the president of Calcutta Social Project, said: “We made an exception in her (Moumita’s) case and that exception became a rule. When you see an eight- or a nine-year-old desirous of learning, you cannot turn them away.”

After she completed her primary education, the NGO helped her enrol in a government school.

“The whole objective of bringing someone like Moumita to our school is to help our students shift from the bubble of entitlement that they are so used to. They think privileges are a matter of right to them. People like Moumita tell them how children have to struggle and yet they do not complain,” said Anjana Saha, principal, Mahadevi Birla World Academy.

“If of the 150 girls, even if 10 of them reflect on what they heard and try to make a change in their attitude or way of life, we will consider it an achievement,” said Saha.