Lack of adequate housing and sanitary facilities along with other issues put our poor families at great risk for disease and disability. Perscription drugs and hospitalization is expensive. Many must choose between food for their children and medicine for themselves.
Sanitation
It is very common for a poor family to have no more than a hole in the ground surrounded by plastic sheeting for a toilet. There may be a well on the property but it cannot be used for drinking - only for washing. The well must be covered with screening to prevent children from falling in. Drinking water must be fetched from the nearest municipal water spigot which may mean a long walk for a family.
Insect Bourne Diseases
Standing water and open drainage and sewer ditches breed disease bearing mosquitoes. Diseases such as malaria, felagia, degue and others are a constant with the poor.
Asthma and Other Respiratory Conditions
The air quality in the Southern India is not good. Growing use of automobiles and scooters as well as industry means smog problems are growing. Closer to home, most of the poor use palm fronds or wood scraps for the cooking stoves. The smoke is thick in the air in the villages and can be 
choking in the small, unventilated huts. Many of our poor, especially the children, suffer from asthma and other respiratory conditions.
Work Related Injuries
It is the lot of the poor, especially the uneducated poor, to be relegated to manual labor. A major source of income for many of the families of the region is fishing. The dangers of ocean fishing at night are great, and it is not uncommon for the breadwinner of a family to incapacitated, sometimes for life, through an accident. This can be one of the major factors that brings a family to destitution. During the time of rehabilitation, the wife may work two jobs as well as care for her ailing husband and their children.
Mental and Nervous Conditions
Depression, anxiety and other nervous conditions are not uncommon problems among the poor. The sense of hopelessness and abandonment weigh heavily upon the poor. It is especially difficult if the children suffer from the debilitation of depression as it adversely affects their schoolwork. Sometimes just the hope of help from a sponsoring family can be a tremendous help to one who is suffering from depression. Sometimes medication can be of help.
Aging
Several generations of a family may live together. While the grandparents are still healthy, they can help to keep the family by caring for children while the parents work. As they age, however, the burden of caring for both aging parents, children and working is a huge burden on the family, especially if other illnesses are present.
Sponsorship
Your sponsorship can turn a family around. The extra income will mean doctors can be consulted, medicines can be purchased without having to choose between food and health. It takes time, but our families want to work, want to support their children and see them grow. They work hard for the opportunity to bring their children out of the cycle of poverty.
Please Consider sponsoring a family>>
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