Hi everyone,

I am setting up an online fundraiser for the purpose of building a small house for Babu and Rama, a long lost neighbour of mine from India. Below is a quick introduction to the couple and the details.

Babu was my immediate neighbour, from a family of five kids who lived with their parents. The family struggled with poverty, alcoholism and violence; as a young child I witnessed several things that one would say are "traumatic" in our part of the world. Babu's Father finally committed suicide after being unable to treat the throat/mouth cancer he developed. Despite all these problems, our families were very close-- my dad used to park his motorbike in their yard. I remember for my grandfather's funeral, this family cooked all the food for the guests in their own home.

Time went by, our paths diverged. I went to engineering school and left India, Babu's family sold their house and went to different places to build a life of their own. Nearly 40 years have gone by and I accidentally connected with Babu again around the time of my dad's funeral only a few months ago. In those years, Babu got married to Rama and the couple had three kids. Ironically enough, one of their kids died in his teens, which sent Babu into a philosophical quest. Babu joined a Bible college seeking answers for questions and now preaches to a small congregation near his home. He also drives a rickshaw for his day job, and lives in a rental house.

The income from the above is barely enough to meet their basic needs of the family, rent being a big portion of their expenses. Having a small house they could call their own, would mean a lot to them especially as they approach old age.

So how much will all this cost?

With whatever money they had inherited/saved, Babu & Rama bought a plot of land for about 14 lakhs (approx $14,500 USD), a page from the deed is shown below. With another equivalent amount, they would be able to build a small home for themselves. The plan for the 700sq ft house is also attached.

The paths that once diverged will most certainly converge as they must for all mortals, as such at this stage in my life I find being able to directly help people within my circles to be a privilege or an opportunity given to me. I am calling all like minded folks to contibute any amount of money that you can through one of the many methods of payment accepted by the fund raising platform.

We will keep the campaign open for a month, at which time transfer the money to the couple. We will also post updates on the house building, as it makes progress.

Sincerely,

Binto John