Finally a roof!

Earlier this year, Ganpati Norway gave Aryan's* family bricks and cement to build an extension on the house. It has always been the intention to give this extension a simple roof, but things take time. Meanwhile, the familiy has hosted our literacy class, and we have used this extension (without a roof) as our classroom. The monsoon rain comes to Khajuraho in June and lasts until August and without a roof we would have to cancel the classes or find somewhere else until the rain stops. Putting a roof on the extension before the monsoon has been discussed over the last couple of weeks. Then, quite suddenly, the extension has a roof without us knowing about the work!

How did this happen? The answer is actually simple - and a bit amazing; One of the sons in the family is working in Dehli. His salary isn't good, but he has helped the family whenever he could. Since we started our work he does not have to worry about his family having enough food anymore, and he has managed to save up to pay for a metal roof and to put cement on the floor. The amount he has spent is more that 2 months salary so we are impressed by his effort. The family could easily start to expect us to fix everything - but they still work to improve their lives on their own.

The roof is not 100% waterproof yet though, and since they host our literacy class we have decided to help them with the rest (we were obligated to put a simple roof up anyway). We will also provide them with a fan to be used both by the family and the literacy project. This means we are all set for the monsoon! And since all sons in the family are home now, we got a picture of all five of them together.