DISASTER RELIEF
Chiranjeevi Can Now Dream of a New Life
CBN.com –
Chiranjeevi could not believe his eyes as he watched his only source of livelihood, a small kirana shop being submerged under water. Everyone in his village were stranded, the heavy down pour flooded the village and destroyed all the houses including Chiranjeevi’s. Everything including stored food grains and belongings were swept away by the flood. As the water continued to rise Chiranjeevi, his neighbors and relatives moved away to a secure place quickly in order to save their lives.
The years of effort spent saving and building their house was destroyed in the 3 days of heavy downpour. The crops were destroyed and the farmers lost all the money they had invested on their land. Chiranjeevi had nothing left. There was no insurance or money he could fall back on and the thought of starting all over again terrified him. He wondered who would help him. All these worries took a toll on Chiranjeevi’s health. He developed chest infection and had high fever. He could not go to a doctor as accessibility to and from the village was totally cut off. Almost everyone in the village was having some medical problem.
When people gave up all hope the arrival of Operation Blessing India team to the village brought comfort to the people. A team of doctors treated everyone at the medical camp, even Chiranjeevi was treated by the doctors for his chest infection. As Chiranjeevi began to share about the loss of everything he owned OBI decided to help him to start his kirana-shop again. Chiranjeevi was choked with emotion when he was given some money to start his business again. His heart was filled with gratitude as he said, “Operation Blessing provided what I needed the most at the right time. They gave me medical treatment, food materials and money to start my life all over again. My family and I are very grateful to you for your love and concern. May God bless you all!”
Two months later, Chiranjeevi is running his shop and doing well for himself and his family. “Chiranjeevi is a very happy man today. He has set up his shop again thanks to the help given by Operation Blessing India, Chiranjeevi’s health too is good, I thank you for helping Chiranjeevi and my village,” said Pedapati Shashi Kumar, the Sarpanch of the village.
The OBI team had to travel in boats to reach people in this locality. 2,662 families were provided temporary housing, food material like rice, pulses, cooking oil and edible salt. Medical treatment was given to people suffering from diarrhea, fungal infections, scabies and viral fever, while water purification tablets were also distributed. On the whole a total of 13,980 people affected in the floods in August benefited from the services of OBI in Andhra Pradesh alone.
Three days of heavy downpour had flooded his village and 300 families were left totally helpless.
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