75 Homes of Hope project with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Yokohama city in Japan)'s support, launched at Mangadu, a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in April 2010, is being curried out to build shelters for socially and economically less fortunate families. This makes a homeowner story about one of 75 families, named K.Saroja.
K. Saroja (60 years old) is residing in No. 64, K.K Nagar, Mangadu, Chennai. Her husband Kulanthaivel passed away years back. As a widow, she struggled through life and did odd jobs to make ends meet. She does not work at present. She has an unmarried son living with her who works as a daily waged laborer and earns 3,000 rupees per month on an average.
For many years they have been living in a small house with a plinth area of 180 sq ft. The house was not built with good materials so the structure gave way to rain water seeping into the house. It became inconvenient for her to live in such conditions. She was glad to find out the government was providing a house under the BSUP scheme. With the hope of constructing a new decent house she had her old house demolished and began working on her new house. The government funds were not sufficient to complete a house and she was struggling to get financial aid from other sources. During that time she learnt of the project of NISSAN-Habitat for Humanity and WEEDs and sent an application for support. After the assessment, she was selected to be a beneficiary in the project.
Saroja is very thankful for the assistance she is getting to complete a house through the NISSAN supported project. Earlier She did not have a toilet facility in her previous house and now with the toilet she feels the one attached to her house provides her with the privacy necessary.Today she feels more secure at night and does not have to worry about cracked walls and leaking roofs. The construction work of her house is completed and the final touches are underway. She says her new house is spacious and safe to live in and thanks God for sending a benefactor like NISSAN to her aid.