11/07/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – “Our lives are changed,” Niharika Patro, a graduate from a sewing course started with the help of International Christian Concern (ICC), said. “Now, we can finally move on.”

Receiving little help from the government, Niharika and other Christian survivors of the 2008 Kandhamal riots, still considered India’s worst incident of Christian persecution, have been struggling to survive for over a decade. In July 2018, ICC started a six-month sewing course for nine Christian women living in a relief camp in Khoraput town, located in India’s Odisha state.

All nine of the women were displaced by the Kandhamal riots and have been forced to seek refuge in Khoraput town’s long abandoned relief camp. The objective of this training course was to provide basic sewing skills that these nine women could use to earn a livelihood. The results of this simple training were tremendous.

“Prior to the sewing course, there was no other option for me than doing menial jobs like working as a domestic servant with less pay,” Niharika explained. “Now, I am very happy to stitch clothes. I make at least 100 rupees per day while looking after my husband and kids.”

Recalling the night that she and her family were forced to flee their home village of Gumandi, Niharika said, “Ten years ago our lives were pathetic and we were surrounded with many uncertainties. Forty families had to run for their lives. We had to walk through thick forest in the dark for almost 80 miles with children and old people. The only thing that kept us going was our faith in Jesus.”

“Today, my is life different,” Niharika continued. “Thanks to ICC’s sewing training, it is possible for me to live in improved conditions. I am able to make a livelihood with dignity and self-respect.”