Hyderabad, TELANGANA :
This unusual sight is the heart of Slums to Oxford, a movement built on the belief that learning has no age or boundary.
For 15 years — 5,748 days without a break — Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail’s team has served free lunch in low-income neighbourhoods across Hyderabad.Photo | special arrangement
Hyderabad :
Every evening, in the narrow lanes of the city’s slums, classrooms stir to life. But these are not filled with children alone. A 78-year-old grandmother grips a pencil for the first time, vegetable vendors practise alphabets after long hours at the market and daily wage workers sit shoulder to shoulder, determined to read, write and count.
This unusual sight is the heart of Slums to Oxford, a movement built on the belief that learning has no age or boundary. Its founder, Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail, tells TNIE that when elderly people take up education, they inspire children and grandchildren to follow.
Across three evening schools, more than 1,000 learners aged between eight and 80 are rewriting their destinies. Lessons go beyond alphabets and numbers to address social realities — domestic violence, human trafficking and drug abuse, among others — while also offering vocational training, particularly for women.
But education is only one part of Sohail’s mission. For 15 years — 5,748 days without a break — his team has served free lunch in low-income neighbourhoods across Hyderabad. What began with 50 plates has grown into thousands each day, cooked in community kitchens. For abandoned elders, the homeless or those battling addiction, these meals provide not just sustenance but also a path into rehabilitation and work opportunities. “Food is beyond caste or religion,” Sohail says. “It is humanity’s need.”
Healthcare, too, is central to his vision of community care. Monthly blood donation drives collect 300-400 units for hospitals. Families struggling with groceries, children needing surgeries and individuals seeking rehabilitation often find support at his centres. For many, these classrooms and kitchens have become places of dignity and trust.
This journey began not as an organisation but in personal grief. Fifteen years ago, Sohail lost his young daughter, Sakina, to pneumonia and organ failure. At the time, he was pursuing a political career. But tragedy changed everything. He left politics to build a living legacy in her memory. “God took one daughter from me, but he gave me thousands more,” he says softly. “Till my last breath, I will serve the needy and be the voice of the voiceless. This is what I learned from my parents.”
In her name, he founded the Sakina Foundation, which has since become a lifeline for many. Over the years, it has served free meals to more than 40 lakh underprivileged people, contributed over 15,000 units of blood, supported lakhs with rations, medical treatment and school fees, and organised over 111 medical and blood donation camps. Through Slums to Oxford learning and skill centres, thousands of children and adults have gained education and vocational training.
Beyond the recognition
Though honoured with state, national and international awards, Sohail remains unaffected. “I am not working for awards,” he says. “My reward comes from the Creator.”
He does not accept donations either, believing his responsibility is to spend from what he earns. “Whatever I have is given by the Almighty. I am not going to take anything back.”
From abandoned elders finally learning to write their names, to children enrolling in schools, to families depending on a daily meal, Sohail’s initiatives weave threads of hope into Hyderabad’s urban fabric. His vision remains simple but profound: “The person who stays in a slum should have the chance to reach Oxford.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Khyati Shah / September 28th, 2025
