So says Maira, who together with her team helps the vulnerable in the village. Over the past 5 years, she has seen more than 8 families lose their close family members.
Loss is always hard, no matter who you are. One of these is the woman Suguna, who had to say goodbye to her husband who recently died of mouth cancer.She was widowed and her daughters, aged 5 and 9, lost their father. The team members did everything they could to help the family during the illness.
The curse of widows
In India, living as a widow is difficult as they struggle with both the grief of losing their spouse and the society that perceives them as cursed.
Suguna is therefore not invited to parties and social occasions. She is no longer allowed to wear her red bindi, which is a red stain painted on her forehead by married women. Instead, she has to make do with a sticker replica. Likewise, widows are not allowed to wear flowers in their hair or wear their wedding jewelry. All things that have a huge impact on the status of women in India.
Help for self-help
Suguna misses her husband in the face of the village's rejection of her and misses him to help support the family. When the team members visit the family, she often has tears in her eyes and lacks hope. What will happen in the future? The Christian workers go out of their way to meet Suguna and her children with hugs and encouragement. They have supported the children's schooling and fed them in the early days after the loss of their father.
Suguna misses her husband in the face of resistance from society, and she often cries when we meet her. But we put our arms around her and she smiles gently, and we sense a small hope from her that she too can find life again. Maira, Project Manager
Our partner organization works to help people help themselves, and thanks to the support of Danish European Mission's donors, Suguna has been able to get some goats to raise and create an income for her and her two girls. She is also enrolled in a sewing course, which the Danish European Mission donors have also helped to sponsor, so she can start earning a living and sending her children to school again.
For some time now, the team has been committed to self-help, standing with the bereaved in loss and bereavement, and seeking encouragement through the help they receive from Danish European Mission donors.Their prayer for Suguna and many others is that they will experience God's goodness and mercy even as they walk through the valley of the shadow of death, cf. Psalm 23.
Sewing courses provide lasting income for the poor
- Danish European Mission's donors ensure that poor people in India get help for self-help.
- The project is implemented in a small village in Tamil Nadu in southern India, where around 800 families live.
- The project offers six-month sewing courses with the aim of giving participants the opportunity to earn money for their own families and sew clothes for themselves and their families.
- After completing the sewing course, the project helps the women get orders.
Livestock and well drilling
- A family can also receive a couple of goats or a cow and earn an income by selling kid or milk.
- The project will eventually create a better earning opportunity for residents by drilling wells. The water from the wells can ensure that agriculture yields better returns and makes residents less vulnerable to long periods of drought.
Support India: Help for self-help
