I’m Gayathri, aged 9 yrs living in the rural region of southern Tamilnadu.

My Village: My village is a small village, no proper roads, and only a few houses have full electricity. In our hut we have 1 bulb electricity, which means we will have 1 bulb and it’s free of charge.

My House: We have no house on our own. We live with our grandmother in her small thatched hut. We have a mud floor and no wall. We do not have door, we hang our clothes instead of [a] door. We cook in twigs and sticks, which we gather in and around our place. The roof of our hut is damaged and leaks in rain.

My Family: My father died when I was 6 yrs old due to heart failure, leaving behind my mother Jessy (26 yrs), my elder sister Mageswari (8 yrs), myself Gayathri (6 yrs) and my younger sister Kalaivani (3 yrs).

My mother was shattered at the sudden death of my father, leaving behind 3 daughters. She had no house to live in, no work to earn and had no siblings to support [her], so she moved in with Grandmother in her thatched hut to survive. We did not have food, clothes or anything to survive. We starved and suffered  for many days. We have no one to support us.

My mother worked as Cooley [labourer] in fields and when she got work, she will be paid around RS.100 (£1.10) per day, which is not enough for our 3 meal a day for 5 of us. Hence we starve for many days. When we have no work and income, we borrow money for food and we have to repay when we get work. I was malnourished, quiet, withdrawn and depressed. I forgot to smile…

My life was like this… my mother was unable to care for herself and for all of us, at that time, we heard about Joy Home. I came in to Joy Home with my sister Mageswari. I was 8 years old and my sister was 10 yrs old then. Life was different from day one: we got food 3 times a day, we got coffee and snacks, we got clothes, we got a bed and bed sheet to sleep comfortably.

We are happy here to be with so many girls our age, we smiled, joked, played, laughed and giggled. Life became colourful. My education was free and unhindered. We are able to live without worry especially about what to eat and what wear. We visited our mother when we wanted to. I have faith that my future will be blessed bright and colourful.

This is my story. Thank you for sponsoring me and my sister. 

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