In October 2009, large swathes of North Karnataka were devastated by floods. The floods affected millions, with homes destroyed, crops washed away and livestock being lost. Ujjivan’s customers were relatively unaffected as most of them had urban dwellings. The worst hit was the rural areas, especially agrarian communities. Some of Ujjivan’s staff hail from rural backgrounds and were severely affected by the floods. At this time of crisis, the entire Ujjivan & Parinaam Foundation employees across the country came together to extend a helping hand. They volunteered to contribute a day’s salary to help staff & customers affected by the flood. Contributions from employees were matched by the organisation helping to raise Rs.7, 90,096 towards the relief fund.
Fortunately, most of our customers being from urban & semi-urban areas were not affected by the flood but three of our staff families were. In December monetary relief was provided to Bheemappa and Yellappa’s families, both CRSs at the Gadag branch as their families had lost their livelihood with entire crops being washed away. However, Yenkanna, a CRS at Mudhol branch was much worse off as his family home located at Machanoor village in Bagalkot district was completely destroyed. Yenakanna and his wife live with his aged parents and two children. His wife is a midwife and earns Rs. 400 per delivery. Yenkanna’s salary was the only regular source of income for the family. With little help from the government or other agencies reaching this remote village, Ujjivan decided to rebuild their family home.
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