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“My initial reaction was that they (World Vision India staff) are coming and giving something and they will soon leave. But I could tell that from the care they were giving is, they are actually expecting transformation from us.” Penta Rao’s family was in total turmoil a few years ago. He used to get drunk and he constantly argued with his wife, till one day he decided to leave her and the children. Alcoholism is a common problem in the urban slums of Vizak and some of the men in the community defend the addiction- “Men drink because working in industries where the environment is full of acids and pollution is very hard,” says one of the men from the community.
Penta Rao’s addiction meant that there was never enough food in the house. Roshini his 2 year old daughter was malnourished and got sick repeatedly. Tabitha the ADP manager says, “We saw that alcoholism and family problems were issues in the communities. So we have many happy family seminars to teach the families moral values and how to deal with relationship issues.”
One morning Penta Rao heard voices and loud activity at the community hall in the colony. He got curious, so he walked to the hall and stood at the door where he witnessed a happy family seminar in progress. Today when asked what all he learned from the seminar he says- “How to bring up children, problem resolutions, adjust to situations, respect the spouse…I learnt many things.” There is genuine happiness in his face as he says, “like they channelized the drain water, they channelized my family life.”
World Vision India intervened in her life and provided economic development assistance and helped her start a small retail vegetable business. Shakuntala starts her day at 4 in the morning. She sells the vegetables until 11 am and is back home to do the rest of the chores at home. In the afternoon she goes to the neigbouring apartments for domestic work.
With her hard work and persistence she has come far from where she was. Shakuntala looks forward to World Vision India’s community meetings and is active in coordinating, arranging, serving and cleaning. She says these meetings are energizers that inspire her to dream big. She says. “World Vision staff's motivation and regular monitoring has enabled me to face difficulties and make ends meet”.
Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova share the story, poetry and images of the Lexington Tattoo Project. Community Development Society (CDS) 2015 Conference held in Lexington, Kentucky on July 19 - July 22, 2015
18th Street
Last Updated by lisc.chicago on Aug 3, 2009
Our 130-year-old commercial district, from Damen Ave. to Halsted Street, has been the spine of the neighborhood with its host of retail shops, restaurants and historically important buildings.
On 18th Street we have Thalia Hall, built in 1892 by the Bohemians, named after a train station in the German port city of Hamburg (the point of departure for many of the neighborhood’s early immigrants) and once the cultural center for the Bohemian community of Chicago.
Pressure from the Chicago Bohemian Community on Woodrow Wilson (US president) led to the creation of the country of Czechoslovakia after World War I, and much of that pressure came from Thalia Hall and St. Procopius Church across the street.
Renuka lives along with her parents, two sisters and one brother in a small house in Ranganayakualgutta community. They are very poor. Renuka was forced to stop her education and help her mother in home making and labor work in order to support their family. During regular house visits, the staff (CDC) of World Vision interacted with this family and encouraged Renuka to continue her studies. World Vision could convince Renuka and her parents on the importance of her education for her bright future. World Vision has also taken her into sponsorship with her parent’s agreement. Now she is readmitted in a Government school and is studying 7th grade. Renuka wants to become a school teacher in future. Ranuka is conveying heartfelt thanks to World Vision for support which is making lot of deference in her life