Hampi Island demolition: Poonam and her family are homeless and starving!

I was traveling around India last year and stumbled upon this angelic lady named Poonam. She ran after me one morning, as i was walking through Hampi Island, where she had her stand beside a road. "Nice dreadlocks," she said, "i can fix them for you. Cheap price." As soon as i turned around i knew she was someone special and so she was fixing my dreadlocks for the next 4 days beside a road in Hampi.

As she was finishing she invited me and my then boyfriend to visit them for a dinner at their home (room, as they call it). We spent the next week there and Poonam and her family were selflessly providing us with more than we needed. Food, company, trips and of course, love.

She is married to Shashi and they have 4 children. As soon as the kids saw us, they flooded us with love and affection. Slowly but surely, in a course of a week, we realized how they were struggling. Poonam was the only one being able to work, working every day from dusk till dawn, alone on an island, to get her family to survive. Head deep in loans, but still kicking.

A week ago i had a dream they were in trouble and she reached out to me a few days ago with the news of Indian government demolishing the Hampi Island; its hotels, homes and shops, even tho the people there had permits to operate and live there. There are not many independent articles about it online (Indian government is great at covering things up), so this is the most relevant info i can find right now:

- https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/02/hampi_home...

- https://hisandheradventures.com/hampi-hippie-islan...

So Poonam and her family of 6 are now homeless and starving. She couldn't pay rent for her "room" so they kicked them out, they are buying food on credits from the shop owners and, as if it's not enough, her dad was in the hospital in a coma (another loan for the hospital stay price), because he had a rickshaw accident. He was the other provider so that income is gone and the prices of everything have doubled because of the covid19 lock down.

When she reached out to me, she didn't even ask for herself, she was devastated for her kids. Praying in the middle of the night. Saying that maybe God will wake up for her.

You can find the photos of the demolition in the uploaded gallery, they are all sent to me by Poonam.

I also put together a short video out of all of the clips she sent me through instagram:

Here's a link to an imgur album with screenshots of our conversation: https://imgur.com/a/SBSRlBB

Here's her instagram account for reference: https://www.instagram.com/poonamvaghela10/

I want to raise money so Poonam and her family can get their safety back, start eating properly, send the kids to school and pay off some of their loans. No amount of money is too small and every bit of help is much much appreciated.

Thank you!

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Many of you are reaching out to me with doubts and concerns, so here are answers to some of the most asked questions:

Q: Why does Poonam have a phone and internet connection but not a stable home and food?

A: Poonam got her phone from a fellow tourist, who kindly gave it to her. As for the internet connection, it’s around $5/month there. She doesn’t have it every month either, nor does she always have a phone. It gets taken away by people who give her loans, as a temporary payment, until she actually pays a certain amount back.

Q: How do I know her story is legit and i’m sending money for a real cause?

A: If you check all of the sources, you can clearly see it’s real. You have links to articles about demolition, her instagram account, where you can go through posts and see how her every day was in Hampi, you can contact her if you want (instagram direct message or click “contact” on her page and you get an email and her phone number) etc. I can’t provide you with more proof than that, because I need to keep her personal info private.

Q: How do I know she will actually get the money?

A: I have to keep her personal info private, but I can provide you with bank statements with blurred personal info. Just send me a request to [email protected] or click on a message button under my profile picture.

Q: Why did the government ruin peoples’ homes?

A: https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/02/hampi_homes_and_business_to_be_demolished-72206

https://hisandheradventures.com/hampi-hippie-island-shutdown/

Q: Isn’t this just making them more incapable of taking care of their life? Why don’t you give them a sustainable solution?

A: I’m searching for more sustainable solution. But first they need food and a home, basic things to operate properly. I’m thinking of teaching her kids proper English or pay for their education. I realize it’s a dead end to always just raise and give money, so i’m doing my best at figuring out a more sustainable form of help.

If you have any additional questions, anything to say, or you want to help me out with figuring this out, please reach out to me with a message to [email protected].