A Voice Out of Poverty: The Power to Achieve Through Adversity

A Voice Out of Poverty: the Power to Achieve Through Adversity by Jillian Haslam.  Top Reads Publishing, LLC, Vista, California.  2022. 223 pages, paperback. $25.53 from Amazon, $8.99 from Barnes and Noble.

This is one of the most moving memoirs of courage, struggle, survival, and hope.

When Jillian Haslam was 8 years old, she would stand outside a tea shop in the slums of Calcutta for hours to receive a ladle of milk that would help save her baby sister’s life. This is one of her first experiences showing she could do something to make a difference.

This was one of many experiences that would lead Haslam to become a force in the world of social activism, which she shares in her tragic yet inspiring memoir, A Voice Out of Poverty: The Power to Achieve Through Adversity.

Haslam and her siblings daily faced malnourishment, sickness and death as they fought to take care of each other, living on the streets and fleeing danger in the middle of the night. Their parents worked hard to keep the family afloat, but in the slums of one of India’s most populated cities, Calcutta, they were constantly ill and starving.

Born to British parents who stayed in India after the country won its independence, Haslam recalls not only the destitution, but the abuse and prejudice that she faced growing up as an Anglo-Indian,

Years later, Haslam found herself moving from the tiny room that she and her many siblings called home to work for the Bank of America, fighting prejudice again as she faced moving up the ranks in the corporate world. While working, she continued to take care of her family and do volunteer work in her free time.

Jillian wants to make a difference to those who experience the same difficulties she did, and has launched several charities to empower children, women, the elderly, and the disadvantaged.  She has won many awards for her tireless work.

For those working with children’s homes and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, Jillian’s story is inspiring and shows that one can move beyond circumstances and achieve success in life.