I'm raising money for my friend Maya who lives in Kolkata, India. I met her online initially, but I visited her during my trip to India in 2022. You can see the two of us in the cover photo.

Her heritage apartment building has an absentee landlord and desperately needs some repairs to replace a leaking water pipe that feeds a water storage tank. Her finances have been limited since the pandemic, so we're running this GoFundMe campaign for assistance. The other photos show the damage to her apartment.

Here's Maya's story, in her own words:

This is an urgent appeal for funds to replace a leaking filtered water pipe that runs for around 50 feet along a dilapidated cornice of the apartment building I reside in, all the way from the water pump at ground level to the overhead tank four floors above.

Here is some background information. This is a just-turned-100 tenanted building with 8 apartments and a long deceased landlord with no available heirs. My family moved in here nearly 77 years ago and I have lived here all my 68 years. I am currently suffering from various health issues including partially impaired vision.

The building is structurally solid and would have been in far better shape had it not been for unlawful activities by some of these residents who took advantage of the absence of a landlord and of the overall corruption and lawlessness that prevail in much of our country.

The flat above mine has been captured by an unscrupulous man who has been trying to drive me out of my apartment. He has deliberately left it in a state of severe disrepair. This water from the leaking pipeline is flowing copiously into this dilapidated flat and then leaking into my flat through several crevices and cracks.

My house has periodically leaked during the monsoons and I have always managed to handle that situation with available resources, however slender. This however is frightening because it happens daily whenever the water pump runs and unlike monsoon seepage, the water comes in copious amounts. An entire wall has been affected and several parts of the ceiling. The immediate threat is to my electric wiring. I am terrified that a fire could break out and it's not just one person who's affected in such a situation. While this is a common pipeline, none of the other residents will give a single rupee for the replacement. Because the water seeps in where it can’t be seen and doesn’t spout out, they are in denial even of what is happening. I have already spent INR 17000 (about $200 USD) out of my meagre savings just to investigate (a high risk job needing skilled and expensive workmen) every section of the roof.

Hence I appeal to all you kind people to help me as this has become a matter of basic safety and health.

Thank you!