When rumbling noises woke up Ramanamma and her family members from their sleep on October 12, 2014, they were dumbstruck by the havoc that unfolded before them.
Residents of Kummari Veedhi, Ramanamma, her husband, and four daughters were mute spectators as high-velocity wind blew off their television, utensils, and groceries from the shelter they called home.
As the cyclone Hudhud ravaged the coast on that fateful day, their home was flattened.
“We immediately rushed to my sister’s house and stayed there until the situation calmed down. When we came out, our home had collapsed,” she says, with tears welling up in her eyes.
An idli vendor and the family’s sole breadwinner, Ramanamma thought that her life had come to a standstill as she lost all her belongings.
However, destiny had something else in store for her six weeks later.
As part of their annual project, members of the Inner Wheel Club of Visakhapatnam (IWC) visited her place in November and promised to construct a permanent structure.
“As I stay close to her house, I could understand what kind of pain Ramanamma would have gone through when she lost everything due to cyclone,” says Geetha Lakshmi, a club member. With a budget of Rs.45,000, members of the IWC constructed a house on 40 square yards of land in one of the dingy lanes of Kummari Veedhi.
“Unlike her earlier tent, the new house has a bath attached to it. The club supported the initiative by providing Rs.25,000 and the rest came by way of contributions from various sources,” says Usha Kiran, president of the club.
With her idli business gradually picking up, Ramanamma says that she could not ask for more.
“We have never dreamt of owning a permanent structure such as this. It just took a couple of days to complete the construction work as our daughters and sisters chipped in,” she adds.
