Nayana’s Journey from a Bleary Present to a Clear Future

Nayana Dei, the simple mention of her name causes a ripple of sympathy among the village folks of Biradia, Dhenkanal. This unfortunate, resilient lady is the pillar of strength to her 3 grandchildren aged 5, 6 and 9. Her husband was convicted of murder and has been in prison since 2010. Her only son and daughter-in-law tragically passed away while working in the fields after being hit by lightning in 2021.

They live in extremely poor conditions, residing in a dilapidated hut, barely suitable for shelter with only a kerosene lamp for light. At the age of 65, she does odd jobs around the village to earn some money to buy fibre to weave fishing nets that she sells in the market. The money earned is spent on food and kerosene for a week until the next sell.

When Supreme Task India reached her village to set a camp, our team found her huddled in a corner in despair with the children. She told us that they were surviving on water for the past 2 days as she could no longer see properly to weave nets every week. We immediately bought her some supplies and informed her about our camp.

After being prescribed the corrective reading glasses, her tears of relief were contagious around the camp. She is doing relatively well now with occasional nudges of support. She now dreams to send her grandchildren to school someday who to approach for help. She is now working at the mill to support Roshan’s education with no complaints.