After the death of her father, Shakirah and her siblings remained with their mother, who had no job. When it became clear that they couldn’t survive in that situation, they moved in with their grandmother who is a widow and sickly and couldn’t afford to take care of all of them. To lighten the load on the family, a maternal great-uncle promised to help one of the children as he could and chose Shakirah.

While her mother is taking care of the weak grandmother, Shakirah is under the care of her great uncle who has about 15 children in his care. This kind man tries his best to feed all the children through the food he grows his gardens but finds it difficult to support them in school.

Shakirah is a smart girl who enjoys studying math and loves to sing in her free time.