ABDF

• Location: Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
• Recipient:1
• Objective:Keep the rain out
• Final cost:$37 US

The Widow Nesamany's palatial home.

Mrs. Nesamany’s situation came to the attention of ABDF.org through its relationship with The Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Mrs. Nesamany is 65 years old and a widow with no other family. She lives in a one-room brick shed in a mostly-demolished house. She has no regular means of income, other than what she can pick up helping others cook, and a 300 rupee monthly allowance given her by St. Paul. To give context, a 12oz bottle of Coke costs 60 rupees.

The house that she lives in can barely be called such. Constructed entirely of un-reinforced exposed brick and mortar, it measures about 15 feet long by 5 feet wide; barely enough for her to stretch out on the floor, and have a brick and board shelf for her meager belongings. She does her cooking on the floor in one corner, using three bricks to support her one-pot meals.

The biggest problem is one of exposure. She has no proper windows or door, let alone eaves, and as a result when it rains the water frequently soaks her and all her belongings. Obviously, living in soak for four months a year has taken its toll on Mrs. Nesamany, who has to sleep on the ground in the water blown in by the storms, which generally last from November through February.

ABDF.org, in cooperation with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, decided to try and alleviate this problem. We hired a local man to build Mrs. Nesamany an awning to block the rain from entering her house. Construction took less than a day (September 2, 2008), with a total cost of just over $39.

A simple awning did the job perfectly.

Program Manager Bennett Hinkley, the Widow Nesamany, and Mr. Gabriel, President of the Batticaloa St. Vincent De Paul Society.

Two days later there was a violent, unexpected thunderstorm. ABDF.org is happy to report that Mrs. Nesamany’s new awning worked just fine, and she spent a very dry night while the rain poured all around her. While Mrs. Nesamany faces many problems in her situation, both physical and financial, at least this one care has been lifted.