Helping Annie return home!

Life has not been kind to Annie the past five years. When her family decided to demolish their old home and build a new one, little did they know that things would take a turn for the worse. Two family members died within a short span. Annie and her brother’s son Jofy were left to repay two loans, each of Rs. 60 thousand, that they had borrowed from a local bank and a local credit society, for the construction of their new home.

Jofy, 30 years of age, became sick with rat fever. Half of the loan had to be spent on his prolonged treatment. Annie managed to build the foundation of the new house from the remaining money.

Annie herself was diagnosed with cardiac problem and was advised by her doctor not to do hard physical labour. Jofy, who is a construction site worker and Annie, an EGS labourer, could barely work to bring food on the table because of their illnesses.

Meanwhile, they applied to the Gram Panchayat for support under the government housing scheme. They put up some sort of temporary shelter until their new home was ready. This shelter was completely washed away by the floods. Annie and Jofy managed to patch up this structure with help from neighbours. However, with no clear indicators from the government about any compensation for the damage, it was clear that they needed to strengthen the shelter themselves.

With MAITRI’s help, Annie and Jofy would be able to build a stronger shelter that would last them at least 3-4 years.

There were tears in Annie’s eyes as we discussed the plan for her temporary shelter with her. MAITRI has provided 20 x 12 feet shelter, with 2 feet wall, concretized flooring, bamboo paneling for side walls and a plastic sheet and tin sheets for roof. MAITRI is also helping her with utensils and a cot. Cost: Rs. 45,000/- approximately.