CHANGED LIVES – Catherinehopefoundation

Madhu story

𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐮, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐭! Read More

Madhu is a 30-year-old double amputee from rural Andhra Pradesh. He 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 while working as an electrician. This incident changed the course of his life, right from 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 becoming 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. His parents are no more, and hence he had very little familial support from anyone except his brother. Life became turbulent for Madhu in the aftermath of his accident. He was driven to a place in life to learn to adapt to a new, stimulating and strange life. Menial jobs that might mean nothing special to you,was a mammoth of a task for him. However, Madhu refused to give up, and his resilience grew!

Amidst this time, CHF met Madhu in February 2021. We were deeply moved by his story and thus, began approaching companies that make prosthetic hands for Madhu. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡, but we found a company in September,2021, and our joy grew no bounds! Thus, Madhu received his prosthetic hands and this, helped him to retrieve a small part of his life back from before.

On 23rd October 2021, CHF conducted a 𝐉𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲-𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐫, 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐫𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐡. Madhu, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 was also present at the event. We met Madhu after a month, and there he shared his story with the people. We could hardly hold back our tears to witness Madhu confidently 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. The people were encouraged to hear from Madhu that 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟! Life has changed miraculously for Madhu, as he is now able to support himself independently by 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬.

His brother thanked us for helping Madhu to receive his prosthetic hands and his eyes were filled with tears of joy. It was indeed a very emotional moment as he 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬! We were overwhelmed and overjoyed by this gesture. He has now requested us to 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐭-𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐤 (𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩) 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥!

Hearing aid - Surender

We met Surendar at one of our Grocery Distribution Drives at Perambur on June 5th, 2021. Surendar had been having ear problems since he was born. He had recently been fired from a job that he found after much difficulty because he did not respond to his supervisor while working as he could not hear him at all. When we met him, he had somehow found a pair of old hearing aids and was waiting to have it repaired. We were moved by his story and decided to help him by finding a good audiologist and getting his hearing aid repaired and restored. Surendar is now overjoyed to hear all kinds of everyday noises for the very first time. Infact, he even finds the television volume to be too loud at times and asks his family to lower it! He is very excited about the new job that he joined on July 1st, 2021.

Remo Francis Mandal

My wife was suffering from cancer and financially we were not stable. During that time I came to know about Catherine Hope Foundation and they helped me during my difficult times. They helped in paying medical bills. I am grateful for the help and support that I received from this Foundation .

From Despair to Hope

Housing work done by Catherine Hope Foundation in Theni District

New house built by Catherine Hope Foundation for the differently-abled. Read More

Abirami

Abirami is a polio victim. She is a daily wage labourer. She crawls and does any chores that the local people give her to earn her living. She takes care of her aged mother as well as 2 orphaned children of her sister and brother-in-law who passed away recently.

Anjali

Anjali is a small girl studying in class 2 who lost her leg due to an accident. The accident occurred when she was travelling with her family in an auto one day. Her mother had a spinal cord injury and Anjali lost her leg in that incident. Her father, who was a painter by profession, died a few months later in a work-related accident.

Lordson

An accident left him a double amputee, but now his confidence is restored and his spirit remains undefeated. Read More

We have an exciting story to share with you of one of our youth beneficiaries, as a part of our Differently-abled Empowerment Programmes. Lordson is one of our most cherished youth beneficiaries from Chennai. He is a 24-year-old young man who lost both his hands last year due to an unfortunate electrocution accident. Lordson’s father works as a mason, and is an alcoholic. His mother passed away in his childhood. Lordson has completed his Hotel Management Degree, and was working with the Lemon Tree chain of hotels, but lost his job during Covid. During the pandemic, he started working as a daily wage painter at a restaurant. On 14th April 2021, while he and his friend were working there, both got electrocuted accidentally. His friend died on the spot but Lordson miraculously survived. The doctors said that since both his hands were severely damaged, they had to amputate them. He was admitted in the hospital for three and a half months after the accident. Lordson lost both his hands and a few toes in this unfortunate incident. He has very little familial support from anyone except his cousin brother, who is taking care of his everyday needs. This accident altered the path of his life to being completely dependent on others for support. Deeply moved by his story, we decided to assist him in getting prosthetic hands. In April, CHF made all arrangements for Lordson and his brother to travel to Hyderabad to get two prosthetic hands fitted for him. Lordson is currently feeling quite empowered while wearing his prosthetic hands. He says that now the people he meets are quite oblivious to his prosthetics; they don’t even notice that he is a double amputee. He always says that he too should have died in the accident, along with his friend, but surely his life has a greater purpose now. He says that a year ago he had a lot of doubts, questions, and worries, but now everything seems alright. He wants to use the gift of life that God has given him to be an instrument of hope and inspiration to others. Lordson is a brilliant young man who dreams to achieve great things. He aspires to be an ambassador of change for society, and he intends to do it to the best of his abilities. We are doing everything we can to assist him in achieving his goals. Thank you for standing with us.

Lingadurai

A father of two young daughters is tormented by his pain and suffering, being paralyzed and bedridden. Yet, he chooses to remain hopeful amidst his adversities, and his life just gets better. Read More

Lingadurai, 41, lives near Seramadhevi, Tirunelveli District, with his wife and two daughters aged 11 and 8. Lingadurai was working as a peon in Mercantile bank till recently. In 2017, he met with a bike accident in which his spine was severely damaged. Now he has become paralysed waist down. He is bedridden, unable to stand on his feet, and has lost sensation from the hip to the knee area. He has to wear a diaper and urinary catheters all the time. Immediately after the accident, he lost his job because he was physically unfit. He spent all of his money on treatment in the hopes of a full recovery, but he cannot afford to do it anymore. Thus his treatment was discontinued a year ago. He needs to spend Rs. 500 each day on physiotherapy, which he cannot afford right now. During the Covid 19 pandemic, he struggled a lot to feed his family. Since he doesn't have a regular source of income to support his family, good-hearted people in his community have helped him out to fulfil his medical expenses and family needs. His wife is unable to go to work since she is required to be with him all day to take care of him. At our very first meeting with Lingadurai, we gifted him callipers so he could practise walking. This has helped him strengthen his leg; he now exercises every day with the support of his wife and a few other individuals. Despite his physical and medical conditions, he hasn’t lost hope. Not even once has he ever complained about his condition or his present circumstances. In April 2022, we transported a hospital bed with an excellent mattress all the way from Mumbai to Tirunelveli just for him. His old coir mattress was torn in different places, which would poke him if he tried to change position while sleeping. Day in and day out, he was extremely uncomfortable and in pain. Now, with the new bed, he says he is very comfortable and can sleep peacefully. He can even sit up on the bed using the incline position. A small gift all the way from Mumbai has changed his life, and he is delighted. CHF is planning to support Lingadurai and his family on a monthly basis for their basic necessities. There are many more such people in need of assistance in the interior, rural parts of India — people who are not in a position to earn a living and support their families. If you'd like to help Lingadurai and others like him, kindly donate.

Praiselyn Maribah

Praiselyn, who was born with a leg deformity, had to undergo amputation as a child. Read how she overcomes her challenges to live a fulfilling life.

Bhuvana, Dindigul

“I am a visually challenged recipient of CHF's Healthy Grains program from Dindigul. I am grateful to CHF for continuously supporting me during my most difficult phase: the last one-and-a-half years, and also for providing me with educational support over the past few months.”

Mottayandi, Dindigul

Unfortunate circumstances might cause you to lose control of your life, making simple things look difficult. Mottayandi faced such a circumstance, when his right leg was amputated because of a non-healing ulcer. Read More

Vijaylakshmi, Chennai

“I lost my husband due to Covid. I have two children, one of them is in grade 10 and the other in grade 5. I could not afford grocery items; the thought of leaving my children hungry made me sad. CHF delivered the grocery items I needed the very next morning.”

Jeyapriya

"My name is Jeyapriya, and I am the mother of two girls. My family's financial situation is unstable and we do not even have adequate clothing to wear. My spouse is an alcoholic who does not support us financially. I was unable to feed my family during the Chennai floods, but the CHF team became our ray of hope. They helped us by distributing groceries during these difficult times."

Janaki

"My name is Janaki. I had an accident that resulted in a leg fracture. My mom had passed away in that accident. After the accident, I underwent surgery for my leg. If I even took a short stroll, my leg would swell up. I cannot move around much or fend for myself. During the Chennai floods, the CHF team reached out to me and offered me groceries. I am grateful to the team for their kind gesture."