Gul Afsha and Aseema

‘I thank God for the floods, because of which I could meet the Operation Blessing Team”

Operation Blessing puts hope back into the families of the flood affected Kurnool  ‘I thank God for the floods, because of which I could meet the Operation Blessing Team” I was taken aback my this comment coming from a 16 year old girl  Gul Afsha, whose family suffered a lot during the floods that affected the entire Kurnool region. Thousands suffered during this time the flood situation in Kurnool and Mahaboobnagar and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh turned grim large number of residential localities were submerged due to heavy inflow of water into various reservoirs.Many perished, many went missing in the remote areas of the three districts as various rivers and rivulets were flowing at dangerous levels. Among the worst affected villages was Panchlingala,  the village of Gul Afsha. What made Gul Afsha make the statement that in spite of her family suffering so much? She was studying in Tenth class in an Urdu Medium school. She lived in a small house in the village with her father and mother, her elder sister was married and lived in a distant village and her brother was in a government hostel.. Her father’s income was very irregular so the family depended on the Mother who worked on the sewing machine, stitching dresses for the village people and supporting the family. It was a difficult time yet Gul Afsha dared to dream, she wanted to study well and became a Doctor one day. Looking at the situation of her family she wondered if it was possible But when the floods struck, the severity of the damages around her shattered her dreams, flood waters inundated their village and they lost everything and had to flee to higher grounds fearing for their lives. They lived on what was offered to them as temporary relief in the form of food and shelter. She felt that it was the end of the road for her and her family they lost everything they had specially the sewing machine on which the family depended so much. Gul Afsha’s school was under water for days, she thought that her school would never open and she could never get back to her studies again.  It all looked hopelessOperation blessing in response to the village panchilngala was immediate Sensing the needs of the suffering people Operation Blessing with the help of Local partners provided Food for the stranded people by setting up Kitchens which cooked Fresh Food. Each day 1500 t0 2000 food and water packets were distributed to the stranded people in the Railway Station, Bus stand, and highways. Emergency Relief bags were given away, medical treatment was given and Vector control was also done by fogging the areas where water was stagnating. Damaged schools were also cleaned and   refurbished. Special care was given to Gul Afsha’s school, almost all the children coming to the school were from poor families so none of them could afford to buy school supplies. OB provided all of them with new school bags, books and stationary. The entire school was cleaned, and painted. Educational charts were also provided. The school did not have a compound wall at all; Ob erected a beautiful fence and planted many trees so that the children could have a good environment. The school looked more beautiful than what it was before the floods. This made Gul-Afsha happy; many other families were also helped by OB by the provision of relief kits which contained enough food supplies to last a month. OB team made a surprise visit to Gul Afsha’s home and gifted her mother with a new Sewing machine. This was totally unexpected by the family, they never believed some one could gift them a sewing machine.Gul Afsha’s family was very happy to receive the gift in fact within minutes of receiving the Sewing Machine Gul Afsha’s mother Ameena started to stitch clothes her hands and legs were waiting to get back to work; they needed the money desperately to get back to normalcy.  Gul Afsha felt that it was Angels working in her life, her total perspective changed.  The Sewing machine they lost was an old one but now they received a new and a latest model with better features. She has become very confident of herself, she believes strongly that she is on the road to success, she became very responsible at home and at school, she works hard at her studies, waters the trees planted  by OB at the school, she helps in keeping   the school clean and green.For Gul Afsha it is a whole new world now, a school which looks new, her new school supplies, a new sewing machine for her mother and a whole new confidence as she now dares to dream and is confident that one day she will study to become a Doctor.“Thank you Operation Blessings, you have changed our lives you have put  back hope in our lives and thanks to you I will work hard and realize my dreams’’ says a smiling Gul Afsha.