A temporary home for Vanaja

Vanaja lives in Maitra colony with her two sons, Vipin and Vinu. Her husband was a toddy tapper and a union member. After he died 8 years ago, Vanaja worked as an EGS labourer. She gave up this work due to medical reasons. Her sons, Vipin who is a welder and Vinu, a construction worker, are the earners in the family.
Flood waters submerged their home under water for 6 days. She and her sons stayed on a neighbour’s roof until they were rescued and moved to the relief camps. Here, they stayed for 17 days.

They returned to Maitra to find their home badly damaged. The rear side of the house had collapsed. The building was also damaged inside. Vanaja had built this house on a loan taken from the village credit cooperative society. To get the loan, she had to submit her land ownership documents to the society. Without help from the government, it would be impossible for her to repair or reconstruct her home.

It was unsafe to stay in their homes and so Vanaja shifted to the neighbour’s home. Vipin used his welding skills to begin the construction of a temporary shelter. When we visited for the second time, he had already a structure ready. MAITRI helped by providing bricks for the side wall and tin sheets and plastic sheets for the roof. Cost Rs. 15,000/-