Characterized
by Mumbai's slum
Sanaya was raised in Mumbai, her mother worked as a professor of social work at the university of Mumbai. She was often accompanied to the University, and on field visits, where she learned how difficult life is for the very poorest in India. This shaped her at a young age, and a will was founded early on with the need to help people who are in difficulty.
She enjoyed herself at home with her parents and never had any explicit plans to move far, but at the same time there was always an interest in new cultures.
When she was going to choose education, and her mother hiving at times had gone to Sweden as an exchange with Stockholm University, so Sweden was not completely foreign. What country can be better than Sweden with its social welfare policy, she thought and stuck to a new education at the University of Gävle, the International Sociology program.
"The most important thing was to get knowledge that I could bring back to India to be able to help and support those who are having a hard time over there", says Sanaya Singh.
In 2008 she came to Sweden and ended up in a class with people from all over the world and as the only individual from India, she decided on learning Swedish quickly.
"I chose to live on Campus and to be part of the various activities that other students had. It was the best and most fun time during my studies."
She met her future husband during her time at the University of Gävle and was asked during her education to stay as an assistant in the education program she was studying and stayed in Sweden.
"Today I cannot understand that my parents sent me to another continent as a 17-year-old, but they trusted me and I am grateful that I got that chance", says Sanaya Singh.