Mother Miracle’s founder, Shahla Ettefagh, gave up everything to come to India and serve the poor.  Hers is a story of perseverance and undaunted service.  During a visit to India in 1995, Shahla was so moved by seeing children living in extreme poverty that she vowed to come back to India to dedicate her life to helping poor children and families, especially women. In 2002, she fearlessly sold her house, business and personal belongings. She said goodbye to her family, friends and the love of her life. She ripped up all her photo albums to avoid the temptation of returning, and she moved to India to start a new life without ever looking back.

Since then, she's made an outstanding impact in the community. Not only has she built a state-of-the-art school against all odds (there are many bureaucratic obstacles in India!) and is providing the highest quality education, as well as nutrition and healthcare, to hundreds of the most exceptionally intelligent children from the slums of Rishikesh, she has also started a women's empowerment program that provides skills training and income to poor women in the community, as well as a free vocational training to the community's youth who do not attend the school. Mother Miracle’s scholarship program enables their students to attend private universities in India and the United States.  One of the graduates from her school is now studying to be a neurosurgeon in the United States, and there are many more equally triumphant stories!  Mother Miracle was awarded ‘Best School Trophy’ among 40 schools in Rishikesh in 2015 and 2016.

Shahla volunteers her time to the school and abstains from taking a salary; 100% of donations go directly to supporting the children’s education, nutrition and healthcare. These children come from the poorest of the poor, so they are extremely dedicated to making the most of this opportunity Mother Miracle is giving them by taking their education seriously.  They know Shahla is giving them 110% of her love and has dedicated her entire life to serving them, and in turn they respond with respect, dedication and hard work.  By working hard to climb out of destitution through education they are also helping to provide the basic necessities of life to their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters.  Mother Miracle is breaking the cycle of poverty one child at a time.