This Orange seller built a school for the poor children in his village

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Harekala Hajabba an orange seller in Mangaluru who built a school for the poor children in his village.

He lives in the village of New Papdu in Harekala, around 25 km from Mangaluru, Villagers have given him a title of Saint, For his one of a kind contribution to society.

Growing up as a boy in a very poor family, Hajabba always nurtured the dream of rolling beedis in the city.

However, life took another turn and forced him to sell oranges instead.

“I have never been to school. At a young age, poverty pushed me into taking up a job selling oranges. One day, I encountered two foreigners who wanted to buy a few oranges from me. They started speaking to me in English and asked about the price of the oranges. But I was unable to converse with them and they left. I felt humiliated after this incident and was ashamed that the language barrier made them walk away,” he says.

Not wanting anyone else to go through what he had experienced, his life’s mission suddenly became clear to him. From that day onwards, Hajabba worked towards setting up a school so that the poor children in his village had access to education.

He is an orange vendor in the city of Mangalore, Karnataka, India, and a well-known social reformer. He is known for the revolution he has brought in rural education within his state. He kept part of his savings from selling oranges, to start a school in the region he came from so that the children there could get educated. Today, the school, which has grown with government support and donations from private individuals, is known as Hajabba School. He is affectionately known as ‘ Akshara Santa’ (The saint of letters) in Mangalore city.