While on the street, Kumari sold vegetables or made flower leis, and she worked hard to earn decent wages during the flower season. She was one of the first women we met on the street in 2005, and she did her best to care for her kids even in that challenging environment. See a brief interview with Kumari in our Operation Shanti Introduction Video.
Kumari helped us tremendously through our Street People Program, referring orphans and other destitute children to us and trying to ensure that the other women in our program behaved properly. Kumari has always been reliable, a straight-talker, engages in no drama or B.S., and only cares about the well-being of her kids.
Kumari at KM with little Mohan, her 3-year-old son, and little Adarsh
Kumari, little Nanjunda (nephew), and Sumitra (daughter)
during a visit with grannie Rachamma
The doctors say that Kumari's lungs won't improve and the goal is to prevent them from worsening. A clean-air environment can help immensely. Unfortunately, the pollution in the city would be too much for her lungs.
Her condition has improved a bit, and she doesn't need the oxygen as much, but her right lung "crackles" when the doctor listens to her breathing, so we are encouraging her to stay at KM. She can watch her kids -- Mohan, Sumitra, Prema, and Venkatesh -- at KM grow up, attend school, and enjoy their childhood.
