Monayampettai, Tamil Nadu

Monayampettai, Tamil Nadu, India – 2010. In early 2010 I went to India with Habitat for Humanity Global Village. We spent two weeks on a project in a small agricultural village called Monayampettai located a few miles north of Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu. In the village there were a number of residents who had never seen a foreigner close-up and were a bit unsure of what we were doing and why we were there. After they got use to us, we all had a wonderful time mixing with the locals both at the work sites and other village activities. The village depends entirely on agriculture. Most of the houses were mud walled with thatched roofs. All had electricity (supplied by the government) but often only a single light bulb was included. Only a few houses had running water and even fewer had toilets.
The village of Monayampettai located a few miles north of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu.
Cows. The horns had been painted for a religious festival
The street leading to the school
One of the two temples in the village of Monayampettai
Satellite dish – technology in the middle of poverty
Several families in the village had houses that had been partially built by the Government but funding had run out before they could be completed. Habitat for…
The main form of employment for the villagers was working in the fields around the village
Lentils drying in the sun. The pods would pop open as they dried.
A local house under construction (not Habitat)
Colourful ox. The horns had been painted for a religious festival
A number of the villagers used chalk to make these patterns at the entrance to the house. New drawings were added daily
The remains of a mud walled house
Colourful ox. The horns had been painted for a religious festival
Reclaimed lumber and motor cycle transport
A form of scarecrow to ward of envious looks from passersby
Women pumping water at one of several wells in the village
Mixing cement for the roof. Hard work, requiring lots of help.
Drying chillies, lentils and peanuts on the road
Shelling lentils that had been left out in the sun to dry
Preparing a celebration meal
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