Differently-Abled Woman From Tamil Nadu Turns Messiah For Other Special Kids

D Indra was diagnosed with polio when she was just five months old. The disease has rendered her with a 90 per cent disability. After she attained teenage, she was shifted to a children's home for special education in Tamil Nadu.

Hailing from Sirunallur village near Madurantakam, Indra is now 36-years-old and a source of comfort and solace for 30 kids with special needs. Intending to create an inclusive and hunger-free society, she set up Prem Illam, where orphaned kids and children with disabilities reside, The Times of India reported.

Feeding The Hungry

Indra has pursued special education and is a post-graduate in computer applications from Anna University. After her education, she leased a piece of land to grow and feed healthy food to the children she cares for. After the pandemic struck, she increased the yield on her farm. Now, she provides food to those who are affected due to Covid-19 or have financial strains, apart from feeding the children whose parents have caught the Covid infection.

Along with her friend, she had identified around 200 distressed families in the village and provided them lunch during the lockdown. Since the initiative started, lots of fresh organic produce has been grown on her two-acre farmland.

Indra has been using all her savings to get more variety of seeds and has also reached out to the local organic farmers for help. "Okra will take at least five weeks to grow and rice around 140 days. Poongar paddy variety grows faster than the others. I think we have enough food for now. We are connecting with people and doing all that we can to provide healthy food to the hungry," she told TOI.

Talking about the shelter home, Indra says that it is mostly run on donations, and the team is currently looking for donors who can take care of children's financial needs.

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