India: real lives

In Pratapgarh, a small rural area in Uttar Pradesh, India, villagers were getting sick from tuberculosis (TB). About 90 people became infected with TB which can be spread from person to person through the air.

Children were falling ill because of the cramped living conditions at home, where many any families have five to six people living under one roof. Most parents in the area worked as stone crushers. The dust from the work would get into their lungs and they become more susceptible to infections.

ChildFund Australia's affiliate organisation in India and local partner Janpriya Seva Sansthan launched activities to reduce the infections. ChildFund in India began its intervention by identifying those who were infected and bringing community members to the office for a clinical exam by doctors. For each patient, the office keeps case files detailing the medicines ChildFund in India has provided, appointments and more. ChildFund in India also monitors patients to ensure they take their medicines properly.

As the infection rate began to decline, ChildFund in India staff were still concerned with preventing transmission from parents to children, largely as a result of the overcrowded housing conditions. ChildFund in India built 41 houses in 21 villages around the area, and the TB transmission rate has dropped dramatically.

One recipient of a new house was Shiv Kumar Singh, a father with one child. He had worked as a wage laborer in Bombay but became too sick to work and returned to his village. "I was not in a position to get treatment. There was no one to support me and encourage me to go for medical treatment."

ChildFund in India provided him with treatment and a new home. "We are very secure now. Before, we lived in a thatched house. It was too hot in the summer and during the monsoon season, rain would come inside."

Past tuberculosis infections have made Singh too weak for a labor intensive job. ChildFund in India has assisted him giving him a small loan through a micro-enterprise development program. He now runs a small shop; where he sells sundries. From his work, he is able to bring home about 1,000 rupees per month. Singh says he feels confident the bad days are gone and is focused on what he can do now to provide for his family.