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"My name is
Kanniponnu. I am residing in South Street of
Ayyampalayam. I am 23 years old. There are five
members in my family. My husband's name is
Picthaimani. His first wife ran away with
another man leaving her two children to his
acre. He married me. He was already an HIV/AIDS
patient. He hid this fact from my parents before
my marriage. Now he is not able to do any hard
work. I am partially blind and so am unable to
go for work. My mother-in-law is earning a
meagre income from picking waste paper
from roadsides. We were living in a hut with
much inconvenience. We requested RTU's
assistance for a house. Now we are living in
this house safely. We are also given a monthly
assistance of Rs.500 under RTU's Home
Sponsorship Scheme. We are living a happy life
now. We are ever grateful to RTU for its timely
assistance." |
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Rural Housing Programme |
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Houses |
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Depending on the
availability of funds there is an ongoing programme
of building specially designed brick-built,
tiled-roofed houses at a cost of around £750 per
house. There is a constant need in the villages for
good, low-cost housing. 80 houses were built
2008, 282 in 2009, and 164 in 2010 (in 16 villages). |
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For the poorest
villagers, palm-leaf huts are too often the
only place that families can live and care for their
children. These are insecure and only last a
year or so. They are too often shocking, inadequate and unworthy of
human beings. |
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In October 2008, in
the village of Pattiveeranpatti, 7 of these thatched
houses were destroyed in a fire caused by an
electricity power leakage. There was no government
assistance available and the families approached
RTU. After surveying, RTU immediately built
the houses; and also provided clothing and other
assistance for the affected families. |
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Each house occupies
314 sq ft and is constructed on a concrete base. The
window and door frames, and the door itself, are
made from ferro-cement to avoid insect attack. The
roof trusses are of steel for the same reason.
All the materials needed (apart from the trusses)
are produced by the Cement Product Unit of RTU. |
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EARLY 2011. 50
houses have been completed in the village of
Sulapuram, an hour's drive from RTU's base.. Brother
James wrote of this village:
"I have been
building houses, and other things, since the end of
1950’s, most of the time replacing shockingly bad
hovels. Still, 60 years later, I am appalled by the
conditions in which families are forced to live. The
most basic of shacks which can be demolished in half
an hour are still to be seen in remote villages out
of sight of most people. I still find myself
standing in front of deplorable hovels and my heart
sinks in dismay. If I could not stay in one of these
wrecks for even one day why should a family with
children be obliged to do so?" |
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Since the programme
began, over 7800 houses have been built, including
more than 60 entire villages. RTU houses are strong,
durable, weather-proof and well designed, with the
features rural dwellers want: a shady veranda, a
living room and cooking area, and a washing area. |
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A unique feature of
this programme is the participation of foreign
volunteer groups. Besides monetary assistance they
offer their labour for this programme. Volunteers
from Britain made the programmes in each of the last
few years a great
success. (These volunteers are provided and
organised by Lasallian Developing World Projects,
not by RTU-UK. Click
here for more information.) |
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It
only costs £750 to provide a life-changing house for
a poor village family. |
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