By Kitkupar Shangpliang
Pappu and Deepak are missing.
The brothers, 14 and 10, have not been heard from in days and their parents are starting to lose hope. Neighbours suspect that the raging waters washed both of the boys away into the unknown.
As Piprahi, Pappu and Deepak’s father, narrates the story, his voice starts to shake with sorrow. He looks at the ground trying to hold back his emotions.
“Before the floods, I could reach them on this phone number. These days, the machine says the phone number is out of order.” Piprahi says he calls the number at least three times a day in the hopes of hearing his sons’ voices.
His other three children and his wife, who wept as she came to meet World Vision relief staff, could not comprehend how this happened. “My boys are fine,” believes this mother.
Poverty Forces Children to Work
Economic poverty forced these parents to send Pappu and Deepak to work at a sweet shop in Murliganj, Bihar, 12 kilometres away from their village. And because they were trustworthy boys the shop owner let them stay in the shop the fateful Sunday that the flood struck.
As floodwaters rose to about two metres, hundreds of people fled Murliganj during the night to take shelter in safer villages, only to find themselves forced to sleep on the streets with thousands of other people and animals.
Witnesses in the area say they found no trace of the two boys.
Family Lost Everything
Severe flooding in the eastern state of Bihar, India has left around 3 million people homeless.
Back home in their village, Piprahi’s family has lost everything—their rice, three goats and one cow were all washed away.
When the family returns they expect to find their house in shambles and surely in need of major repairs.
What World Vision is Doing
Piprahi’s family is one of about 300 families in this region being assisted.
World Vision is distributing food and non-food relief including powdered lentils and peas, flat rice, sugar, biscuits, candles and matches.
In addition, World Vision is operating a relief camp in Saharsa district, where families are arriving by the hundreds each day. These immediate relief supplies will help sustain them for a few days.
For Piprahi’s family all the trauma and suffering caused by the floods can be forgotten if only their two boys come home safe. For now the search is on and the suffering continues not only for this family but for millions affected by flooding in Bihar, India.
What You Can Do
With a donation, you can help ensure families and communities are prepared for emergencies like the flooding in Bihar, India.
Your gift will help provide food and supplies such as blankets, clothing, shelter and medicine to families wherever the need is greatest.
