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Home Partner |
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| Sacrifices made |
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Nineteen-year-old Gracie Elizabeth knows all about what it means for a mother to sacrifice for her family.
Gracie Elizabeth’s father died 15 years ago. Since then, Gracie Elizabeth and her mother, Clara, have joined other relatives living with Clara’s mother, Annama. And Clara has steadily worked two jobs to ensure a better life for her daughter.
Clara works the 10 p.m.-8 a.m. night shift as a cleaner at a hospital and then goes straight to work as a housemaid at two different homes in the morning. She usually doesn’t get home until around 2 p.m. each day-just enough time to grab some sleep and see her daughter before starting the cycle once again.
While her mother works, Gracie Elizabeth takes a long bus ride to attend school. She is studying business in her first year of college and hopes to get a job with a big company in Bangalore when she graduates.
“I look forward to spending time with my mother when we are both home, but it is |
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very little time that we have,” Gracie Elizabeth says.
Still, she understands why her mother does its-especially when she sees the family’s new home taking shape. After international volunteers leave, Gracie Elizabeth says she will continue to help with final phases of construction.
“I’m very excited to have a new place,” she says quietly, as she looks at the walls of the Habitat house.
A safe, secure place to live means a lot to Gracie Elizabeth.
About 10 years ago, Gracie Elizabeth’s younger brother, John Beto, went missing when he was just 7 years old. The family never found out what happened to him or if he is even still alive. They wonder if he was abducted and forced into bonded labor in northern India-something that still happens all too frequently to children living in poor areas.
“He would be 16 now,” Gracie Elizabeth says. “We don’t know anything.”
Gracie Elizabeth’s grandmother, Annama, says she is grateful for Habitat India’s presence in Hegde Nagar, and for the positive reaction in the community.
“Like many others, we were never able to build a new house on our own because we could not afford to repay the large amounts from a loan company here,” Annama says. “Only with Habitat could we afford this.” |
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