Impact Stories

Mr. Arjun Kamat aged 51 is affected by leprosy and he hails from Saharsa district of Bihar. He lives with his wife and a son. Arjun is a daily wage worker, due to his leprosy induced deformity, he is unable to do any major physically work for the last 15 years. He had eight children, among whom seven children died due to unnatural causes. Arjun along with the entire family was shaken, disturbed, and depressed due to the incident. Arjun could not find job with his condition and without any income he even wanted to end his life. The family was struggling for their livelihood, many times the family had to starve for days. Somehow his wife managed the household expenses by doing menial labour work in neighbour’s farms and rearing a few goats.

Arjun had no proper shelter to live in. The house in which he is living with his family was made with bamboo shutter walls with a plastic sheet roof. Since it is situated in a flood-prone area, he had to face immense difficulties while staying in his house. Often during the rainy season, the family was forced to move out of the house, due to leakages in the roof, wet floors, and waterlogging. The family often sleeps on makeshift plastic sheets and bamboo beds. Every year after rainy/flood season he used to rebuild the hut with great financial difficulties.

When the DFIT team visited him for an assessment of his disability, the only request from Arjun was to provide him with a proper shelter so that his family can stay safe and have good sleep. Considering his living and economic conditions, DFIT constructed a house for Arjun and his family. Now Arjun and his entire family members are every happy and staying comfortably. The housing support made him free from his worries, his social status in the community and his self-confidence has increased. He is thankful to Damien Foundation for their timely help and their support.