Ein kleiner Einblick in unsere Arbeit
In den vergangenen Wochen haben wir über alle Bewohner des Altenheimes sogenannte "Case Studies" verfasst.
Diese erzählen die Lebensgeschichten der Bewohner unter dem speziellen Aspekt, welchen Einfluss das neu eröffnete Altersheim auf ihr Leben hat.
Wir haben die Menschen (mithilfe eines Übersetzers) über ihr Leben befragt und diese Informationen dann auf Englisch zusammengefasst.
Diese Berichte werden dann alle in einem Buch über das Heim veröffentlicht.
Teilweise sind diese Geschichten wirklich krass und man stellt sich die Frage, wie viel ein einzelner Mensch in seinem Leben erleben und verkraften kann.
Es wird einem mal wieder bewusst, dass wir in einer ganz anderen Welt geboren und aufgewachsen sind.
Wir haben den größten Respekt vor den Lebensgeschichten dieser Menschen.
Hier eine Biographie, die uns besonders bewegt hat:
Mandange Chinnammi
Is a woman of approximately 70 years
who was born in Pedamerangi. At the age of 15 she had to marry her
cousin and get pregnant. She gave birth to two sons but both of them
died some months after birth. Her husband also died really quick
after their marriage because of Tuberculosis. Since that time she has
no support of any family members or relatives. She is living in a small house
build by herself after her husband died. It is in a really bad
condition, made of wood and old clothes without electricity and
water. When she was younger, she earned some money by building
houses, but the last five years she did some labor work. She
suffers from a really high blood pressure (BP) which is the cause she often feels weak and has headaches. This health problems
caused her accident last year. While doing her work, she fell to the
ground and broke her nose. Because of her financial situation, she
was not able to go to a hospital for medical treatment, so she still
has a small hole above her nose and is not able to work any more.
From the government she gets 200 Rupees
retirement pension. Furthermore she gets some support from the
people living in the village. To life her live without starving she needs to sweep and work in some households. In return
she gets some food from the house owners.
In addition, her eyes are really bad. She
can't see properly and since the last few months she is completely
blind. In our eye-camp on December the 7th the “Sightsavers”
offered her a free operation in Visakhapatnam. Since that day, she is
able to see again.
Her feelings about the home for old
people are really positive as she depends on this institution. She can
talk about all her problems and needs to the other members which is
really good for her mind and soul. She also enjoys to get some
snacks and chai tea everyday.
In her whole life she had to deal with
many different problems.
Her family, especially her father, was
really violent and aggressive towards her, and she did not have luck
with her husband and her children .
At some point in her life she had the
feeling god does not like her.
She also felt like she had no luck in
her whole life – until now!
This home for old people is the first
time she thanks god for her life.
It´s the first time she gets that much
support from others, for example the health check up's, the eye- camps and our
transport to the hospital where she got treated to
reduce her BP.
All of this made her really happy and
she is very thankful to have this opportunity in her life now.