Rebuilding Life, Reviving Hope

Dineshbhai Shankarbhai Bhil, a daily labourer in Radhanpur, Gujarat, recounts the terrifying experience of being trapped by floodwaters, and how Reliance Foundation’s relief work brought him stability and comfort

“It was raining incessantly, and we could hear the water flowing fast and heavy outside – soon, the water level started rising dangerously. I pulled out all my blankets, some clothes, my most important documents and wrapped them in a bed sheet to protect them. I gathered my family and we climbed up on the roof of my hut with my family, screaming for help and praying to God for protection. It was a nightmare and I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”

This is how Dineshbhai Shankarbhai Bhil recalls the terrifying experience of being trapped in the floods that recently submerged large parts of Gujarat, claiming lives, displacing thousands and disrupting livelihoods. Dineshbhai, a daily wage labourer living with his wife and four children in Radhanpur, Gujarat, lost almost all his material possessions to the fury of the floods. “My entire home was filled with water. I took my family to a nearby school building, where others had also gathered for safety. I own two cows and a calf, but I had to leave them on the side of the road at Radhanpur, because all the dry fodder I had stocked up at home for them was washed away. The small cattle shed I had built for them was also severely damaged.”

Since the floods, Dineshbhai has been having a hard time finding jobs as a daily wage labourer, since all labour work in the vicinity has been stalled. As he works painstakingly to rebuild his life, his only source of hope and relief is the ration kit and supplies he received from Reliance Foundation. He says, “All my savings had dried up and I was wondering how we would make ends meet – when my prayers were answered. A group of people from Reliance Foundation reached out to us and gave us food, rations, tarpaulins and blankets – things we needed desperately. We were so hungry that the moment we received the food, we immediately consumed it. My wife is using the rations we received from the Foundation to prepare roti and daal for us now. God bless Reliance Foundation and I hope they continue to serve people in need like us, in future.”