8,000 miles. Three countries. 2 US States. That’s what it took for Mrs. Syeda Mirza to find her way to her forever home, North Penn. 

Mirza, originally from Bangladesh, has been searching for opportunities her entire life. She first found her way to Canada, and later to New York City. It wasn’t until years later that Mirza found herself at North Penn.

“I’m from Bangladesh so I was there as a teacher,” Mirza started. “When I was 21 I moved to New York for a month and a half, then I moved back home. My goal was that I wanted to come back [to the US] to see New York and Manhattan, but I moved to Canada in 2004, and I stayed there until 2006.”

The New York City life certainly isn’t for everyone, and Mirza agreed with this. Because of how crowded the city was and how different that environment is from where she grew up, she decided to explore other living opportunities.

“I don’t like it there. It’s too busy and crowded… I didn’t feel safe with my kids there. My friend lives in Pennsylvania and she said, ‘come and visit here,’” Mirza explained. “It’s a green place, Pennsylvania, and I love plants and I love trees, so seeing a scenic view that is green, made me move here.”

Mirza found herself working in the Special-education department at North Penn alongside her husband who has also been working in the district as a substitute, and through this journey she has found herself a new home.

“I have been a Special-Ed assistant in North Penn since 2008… Pretty much I help with the learning support, emotional support, life skills, and high-functioning skills,” Mirza said. “North Penn is my home. I’m so glad I ended up here, so strongly connected with the students.”

Mirza is not only touching children’s lives in Pennsylvania, but back home her family’s mission was to save other kids around Bangladesh.

“Back home, we have an orphanage and my nine siblings and I are all involved. My mom was an orphan, and her dream was to build an orphanage. She passed away and in 2014 we built an orphanage,” she elaborated.

Mirza’s mother did everything she could to give back to her students, and later, Mirza and her siblings returned the favor after she unfortunately passed away in 2006.

“My mom lost her mom and dad in 9th grade,” Mirza started. “She didn’t have much education, so her goal was for me and my nine siblings would go to university and get a degree, and also to build an orphanage.”

It was a long process getting the orphanage on its feet, but it was even harder watching the kinds of children who found themselves walking through those orphanage doors.

“My dad gave us a big piece of land, then we built up the brick structure… Our plan was for 100 girls to live there ages 4 to 18,” Mirza explained. “They come in, barefoot and most of them don’t have parents, or one parent lost and the other left to a different place. Some are abused or raped by someone, those kids come. It’s heart-touching when you see them. They are truly orphans.”

The family’s decision to make this an all-girls home was based on the horrible things that unfortunately happen daily in Bengali girls’ lives.

“Girls are not safe in our country. Even though parents are there, they can still get abused. Families live together, grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunties, children, so sometimes when parents are not there, sometimes they can get abused, we don’t know who can touch them,” Mirza remarked.

The orphanage has a team stocked with women, and they do everything in their power to keep the young girls safe and comfortable.

“Because our country is not safe for girls, we keep the whole organization run by women. The project coordinator, the Chef is a woman, helpers are women… We are just happy because the girls are safe in there,” Mirza elaborated.

Mirza and her family have worked tirelessly to make this a safe, warm environment for the girls, and it shows.

“They’re happy in there, that’s the big thing. They always have smiles, and they don’t want to go home. Even though their uncle and auntie says ‘Okay, we have to take them home,’ they don’t want to go because they’ll miss their friends,”

It feels good to make other people feel good, and Mirza has experienced this firsthand.

“We really feel so honored… we were blessed by God, definitely, and my everyone is really supportive,” Mirza said.

Through all of the experiences Mirza has had, and even the ones she has watched through other people, walking away from her birthplace and starting a new life has been extremely different on so many levels.

“It’s a hard decision when you have to move countries. My husband has a good job and when I moved, I loved everything here. I love the way they protect the children and have free education. In my country, nothing is free. You go to school-  you have to pay,” Mirza explained.

Mirza has come so far through all of her journeys, and has been able to raise her kids in the states for years now. They’ve even had the opportunity to be educated here at North Penn.

“My first son graduated from [North Penn] in 2011, and he’s a computer engineer. My youngest boy graduated from here in 2015, and he is working in New York as a realtor. We feel now like this is our home and we are so blessed to be here and to have moved here,” she said.

Outside of working in the school, Mirza spends her free time working with special needs families as a therapist, and teaches them everyday life skills to help them in the future.

“There is a lot of technique you have to know when you work in special-education, but it makes me happy to see the success they have…We teach them things, step by step, and you feel good when they get the steps down and know how to do things on their own,” Mirza elaborated.

Whether it’s helping orphaned children, working with special needs students in and outside of school, or making a life for her own family, all Mirza wants to do is help people and make them happy- that’s just the kind of person she is.

“If anybody needs help in the community, I try to do my best for them…In my country we do so much for the community, and I want to do that here,” Mirza concluded.