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Skills End Poverty Cycle for Thenmoghi
13 Oct 2009
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Thenmoghi |
She lives in the slums of Gandhi Nagar, in Chennai with her family. Gandhi Nagar is the largest slum area of Chennai, with a population of more than 17,000 people.
There are a further eight slums around Chennai, bringing the number of people in Chennai living in slums to approximately 100,000.
Ten years ago, at the age of just 17, Thenmoghi was in an horrific accident, hit by a passing train and was left a paraplegic. She has lived on her bed in the family room ever since.
Two Sisters of Cluny, along with two health workers, have begun visiting 350 families in Gandhi Nagar on a weekly basis as part of their pastoral outreach program. When they met Thenmoghi, they quickly realised that her disability didn’t mean she wasn’t able to contribute to her family.
She learned to weave bags from plastic strips. She now sells them and is able to earn 2,000 Rupees a month which is approximately 50 Australian dollars. In Chennai, this is a reasonable income.
With her new skill she is able to make one bag and handle each day, enabling her to support her mother, two younger sisters and younger brother. Her siblings are all in secondary school, and thanks to the income that Thenmoghi receives they can further their education, giving them a better future and better job prospects.
While Mission Sunday is on Sunday the 18th of October, Saturday the 17th is the International Day for the eradication of poverty. Consider what your donations are really contributing to. Not only does your support of the Missionary Sisters help just one life, in Thenmoghi’s instance, but the lives of her whole family, giving them all better future prospects in order to break the cycle of poverty.
As for Thenmoghi, the Sisters say that the training has also benefitted her self esteem and happiness.
