No country is guaranteed safety when nature’s fury strikes, be it through volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, tornados or earthquakes. So loss of property and even life is a sad – and often recurring – reality in many countries. It hurts worst of all when natural disasters strike developing countries whose people are already struggling to survive.
Many of our readers have been among the first to volunteer to help when we’ve reported on critical situations. That’s why I’m sharing information about a very urgent need.
Recent heavy rains in the area of Calcutta, India, have wrought their yearly havoc. According to government estimates, around 400,000 people in the state of West Bengal have been affected, with some 40,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Predictably, some of those affected are sponsored children and their families.
Many poor families live in homes made of nothing but mud and bamboo, so when heavy rains come the structures are simply unable to hold up. Because of the difficulties surrounding obtaining title to land, Children International’s policy in the region is to help families repair their homes with better materials so they will be more durable in the face of the constant reality of the area’s heavy tropical rains.
Although a number of sponsored families’ homes have been damaged to varying degrees, the local staff has presented us two cases they feel are most critical. These involve damages to the homes of sponsored youths Rakhi Maishal (left) and Kunal Moisal (right).The bad news is that the families of these sponsored young people are desperately poor and are unable to afford the needed repairs to their homes. The good news is that we can help.
The amount needed per family is relatively small, but it’s beyond the scope of what regular sponsorship contributions can cover. We are committed to helping these families, but any additional assistance we might receive would be greatly appreciated. At a mere $600 per family, I don’t think it will be hard to make a difference.
Will you help us put these two families under a safe, dry roof? If you’d like to contribute part or all of the $600 needed for each family, please contact us at blog@children.org. We’ll put you in touch with our Sponsor Services staff, and they’ll help you complete your donation quickly and easily.
If you can lend a hand, thanks in advance for your help. Otherwise, simply keep these families in your thoughts and rest assured we’ll do everything we can to get them back on their feet again.
1 comment:
Having visited parts of rural India I can attest to the fact that many of their humble homes are made of mud -- it must be an absolutely awful feeling for families as they watch all their hard work literally disintegrate before their eyes when the rains and floods come each year. Count me in for $100.
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