Help Indian Family Displaced by Ethnic Violence
Donation protected
UPDATE: thanks to all who have donated so far! I’d love to get another month of their expenses covered as well, so please donate if you haven’t already!
Here’s a monthly expenditure breakdown from S.:
1. House rent - $265
2. Food, groceries, medicine - $603
3. Special education therapy - $205
4. Children education / school fees - $125
Total - $1198
Hi, I am Haley Grayless and my good friend, S. (Name removed for protection) along with her husband and two young daughters have been displaced from Manipur State, India because of ethnic cleansing. When I lived in New Delhi, India in 2010-2011, she became my best friend and we ended up doing mission work together in shelter homes for little girls rescued from the streets (see photo above).
Please read her story below about extreme violence, family death, and their lack of provisions now. Anything you can give would be helpful to get them a safe place to live, school supplies, clothing, food, etc.
How we escaped from ethnic cleansing at Imphal, Manipur:
On May 3, 2023, around 6:00pm, a large Meitei (Hindu) mob gathered near our house and started burning the church which is around 200 meters away from our house. They target churches and tribal houses. One after another they started burning churches and Tribal (Christian) houses. This includes my own church.
All the while, we requested the police to help us and protect us from the Meitei (Hindu) mob. However, there was no response from the police because all the police and state machinery are controlled by the Meitei. They were screaming and shouting that all the tribals should be killed. My two little daughters were very afraid when they heard their shouting. We switched off all the lights in our house and kept quiet. After some time, we learned through Social Media that many tribal (Christian) in Imphal Valley were also attacked and burned their vehicles and houses. They were burning our neighbour till the wee hours.
So the next morning, I along with my family left our house in hurry without anything. We had a narrow escape from Meitei mob. However, it’s so unfortunate that my neighbour, was caught by angry Meitei mob and they burned him alive. All his belongings were looted and ransacked.
After we left our house it was ransacked and looted by angry Meitei mob. All our belongings were stolen including important documents like passport, aadhaar cards, pan cards, bank pass books, bank cheque, clothes, utensils, household goods, sofa set, freezer, TV etc.
Due to prevailing political turmoil in Manipur and heart wrenching and traumatic experiences we had is still haunting us and mentally disturbing my two little daughters to date. I and my family seek refuge in Assam state, Guwahati. Hoping and praying to start a new life. At the moment we are staying in a guest house run by a local church. We are trying to find a rented house and seeking school admission for my children.
In case you are willing to contribute and support us during our distress movement, it would mean a lot to us. Even the smallest gift can have a huge impact on our lives.
In His firm grip,
Mr. S & Family
Sources:
Organizer
Haley Grayless
Organizer
Kansas City, MO