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Hello to all of mine and Isaacs nearest and dearest and anyone else across the globe reading this.
As some of you may know, we have been travelling around India for the last month and recently arrived in Hampi. Here, we met a wonderful lady named Laxmi, her husband Ramesh, and their three children.
When we first arrived in town, we were greeted with such warmth from Laxmi. Getting to know her has truly been a joy. Over cups of chai she offered with so much care, she told us of her life. She grew up working with her family in the village rice fields, where she worked for 50 rupees per day (around 40p), to meeting her husband, marrying, and moving to Goa. There, she learned to speak English while selling trinkets and clothes along the beaches with Ramesh. Neither of them attended school and their English is so impressive.
They moved to Hampi a few years ago in hopes of giving their children better access to a good education in nearby Hospet. With determination, Laxmi managed to open a shop selling clothes, bags, and jewellery in this little tourist town we are currently calling our base.
Then, covid hit, and Laxmi, then with a baby to care for along with 2 other children, carried jewellery to a temple every day for 4 months to try and make a sale in what had become a deserted hotspot.
Two years ago, Laxmi’s shop burned down after a gas cylinder in an adjacent restaurant exploded, destroying everything: any merchandise, her clothes, her children's clothes, and the gold jewellery gifted to her during her wedding. All that remained was a fridge.
Click here for the news coverage.
Click here for news article.
Still, Laxmi managed to rebuild, with the help of a loan she is still repaying, and a little help from her family (who have very little to give), she rented a new shop, and filled it with new stock.
But just months ago, her husband Ramesh suffered a stroke. He spent one month in the big hospital in Hubli, the nearest with the medical care he needed. The stroke has left him unable to work and slowly rebuilding his feeling in his left arm. Laxmi, with nowhere else to turn to survive the hospital bills, again sought help via a loan, a loan of 3 lakh (£2570 in the UK). She is still repaying this loan too, and the total debt is now the equivalent to £5000. The majority of the week goes by with 0 rupees made in her shop, and Laxmi is now carrying the weight of providing for her family alone amidst stacking interest — feeding her children, repaying two loans, covering rent, and the cost of sending her children to school.
There is something incredibly special about someone like Laxmi, a woman with a huge heart that, despite some immense hardships, chooses to face the world with strength, courage and generosity.
We know there is suffering everywhere, including back home in the UK, but India is an entirely different world with no benefit from the government to aid in times of crisis and sorrow such as these. Laxmi dreams of one day owning a house where her family can sleep in real beds, but for now, she creates a loving and bright home out of very little.
Isaac and I will be donating what we can to Laxmi when it’s time to say goodbye, but we would be so grateful if you wonderful people out there can part with £1 (around 116 rupees), £2, or even £10 to help her, to truly make an impact on her and the family's life ahead and give her a bit of hope that they will survive, which she wholeheartedly deserves.
Thank you for taking the time to read her story.
All our love,
Nicole & Isaac.
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isaac care
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