Sitting in her hut in Soopa village in Mahoba district, Bundelkhand, eight-year-old Juni says she wants to learn French. She’d like to thank her "godmother”, French journalist Anne Marie Duthu, in her native tongue. "She can’t speak Hindi, so I want to learn French and tell her that she means so much to me and my family,” says little Juni. After visiting the family last year, Duthu decided to fund the education of Juni and her siblings till the time they are able to support their widowed mother, Kapoori Devi.

Thirty-eight-year-old Kapoori Devi’s life was shattered two years ago, when her husband Brijlal, 45, committed suicide on November 25, 2007, by hanging himself from a tree—he had failed to repay debts to a moneylender and his earnings as a farm labourer could not support his family. "I was left behind with five children to take care of. I wanted to end my life too, but then, the district administration promised me financial support,” says Kapoori Devi.

In July 2008, after much running about and with help from local NGO Kriti Shodh Sansthan, Kapoori Devi was given a BPL card and a job card under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. She was also promised financial relief, but it never came, nor did she ever land a job. Her eldest son Neeraj, 16, migrated to work as a labourer, and there was hardly any money to feed the other children—Suman (15), Reena (13), Dhiraj (10) and Juni—let alone send them to school.

But 2009 brought a new friend and a new hope for Kapoori Devi’s family. In August last year, when a team of journalists from French TV channel France 2 visited Mahoba and contacted Manoj Kumar of Kriti Shodh Sansthan regarding a story on hunger deaths in the region, Duthu was part of the team. "She met a number of families but spent a lot of time with Kapoori Devi and her children. She was moved when she got to know that these children will not be able to go to school,” recalls Manoj.

Duthu went back to France with her story—and a heavy heart. "I felt sad for this family. My work would have given me satisfaction, but it was giving nothing to these poor people, especially these children,” Duthu told The Sunday Express on email. In November 2009, she decided she would take care of the family and support the children’s education till the time they can earn for themselves.

Following Manoj’s advice, Duthu sent Kapoori Devi an initial cheque of Rs 5,600 to buy food and get the children into school. "This money meant a lot to us. There wasn’t a grain in the house that day,” says Kapoori Devi.

From April, her children will be going to the village primary school. The Sansthan is also trying to ensure that she gets work under NREGS.