Home is where the heart is. It is more than a place to sleep, more than a place to put our belongings. A home is where a person and their family can feel sheltered and safe. It is one of the most basic of human rights, and yet according to the National Statistics Office in the Philippines, there are around 4.5 million homeless or dispossessed people in the country – the highest in Southeast Asia. 

Not enough is being done by the Philippine government about this problem, which needs to be addressed not only by building more homes, but also through education, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Shelter alone is not enough to reduce the incidence of homelessness, as many of these individuals require assistance; development programs are required to help with job training, basic work skills, and psychosocial support, to help them regain stability and independence.

This is where Koma Karanth Foundation gets it right. 

The foundation is named after Koni Mahabaleshwar Karanth – known as Ko Ma Karanth – the father of the foundation’s CEO, Maitreyi Karanth. Maitreyi’s life story reads like a best-selling novel: growing up in poverty in India, there were days when the family’s only option for a meal was to head to the temple. But her father had a natural talent for writing, which ultimately lead to better opportunities for their family.

Blind from a young age, Maitreyi’s mother, Radha, was a stay-at-home parent, until Ko Ma passed away at the age of 40. With a young family now solely dependent on her, Radha overcame her lack of confidence and was offered a job at a local bank, as part of a program for people with disabilities. Maitreyi looks back on her mother’s actions as a key source of her own empowerment, even if she was too young to realise it at the time.

Earlier in her career, Maitreyi owned a very successful maths tutoring business, putting her MBA (Masters in Business Administration) in Mathematics to good use. Now based in Hong Kong, she currently owns a production company that has produced a film, a TV series, and a series of ongoing comedy shows.

Through all this success, Maitreyi wanted to give back to the community. The idea for Koma Karanth came about via Maitreyi’s ex-domestic worker, Sally, originally from Gloria, Oriental Mindoro in the Philippines.

“Sally, who used to work as a domestic worker for me, took care of us, including my mother and my 11 dogs. I wanted to give something back for her generosity, so whenever there was a need [in Sally’s community in the Philippines], like in a typhoon, we would offer some help,” says Maitreyi. “We started feeding kids in the slums in the Philippines, and one day we had this plan to go to 5 different homes of people who were really struggling, and ask them what they needed.” Fast forward to present day, Sally is now Manager of Koma Karanth Foundation in the Philippines.

This is also how Maitreyi met Marilyn. In her late 30s, Marilyn lived in a small hut in Gloria with her husband and their 10-year-old son. She had suffered a stroke earlier, so her speech was slurred, and she could not walk properly. Marilyn had to drag herself to the outside toilet, as their home did not have one. When asked what Marilyn wanted, she replied that she only wanted food. 

It was after this meeting that Maitreyi had an epiphany. She wanted to build Marilyn a proper home and help her live a life with dignity. The next morning, she called her team of volunteers together and told them they would work together to build a house for Marilyn. They also asked Marilyn’s husband, who was a labourer himself, to gather other labourers in the town – all out of work due to the pandemic – to help build the home.

A few days later, after planning and gathering of materials, the building work commenced.  “We started building. Marilyn sat near the building site and she refused to leave. She was so happy watching her husband and the other men build her home. She said she wanted to be there every day to see her dream house being built,” Maitreyi shares.

Those who are dreamers often view the world with a heady optimism that is infectious to everyone around them. They keep hope in their front pockets and hand it out to those who need it the most. Being around Marilyn was like being handed hope by the spadeful. Her excitement of finally having a proper home made everyone around her happy – especially Maitreyi – who arranged a haircut for Marilyn on the fourth day of watching her dream come to life.

Happy with her new hairdo, Marilyn took a nap. But she never woke up.

Maitreyi was heartbroken. “I cried so much when Marilyn died. I really wanted to see her reaction once we unveiled her new home. Sadly, that will never happen,” she shares. However, the whole team was determined to finish what they started, so after a beautiful but solemn funeral, the work on the house continued. The day it was unveiled, Marilyn’s son placed a nameplate on the front of the house with her name on it. These nameplates have become a signature on all the homes built by Koma Karanth Foundation ever since. 

With a building team already formed, Maitreyi decided to continue the house building project; to date, the foundation has built homes for 28 different families in need of better shelter. They have also built other facilities for the village, including a tutoring school – currently accommodating 32 students and 2 teachers, with their daily lunches included – and an old-age community centre for the town’s elderly to gather, eat, and share stories, so they don’t feel too lonely at home by themselves.

Earlier this year, in collaboration with the local government, the foundation helped to bring fresh water to the village, meaning villagers no longer need to walk 2 hours down the mountain to fetch water, a journey that becomes increasingly treacherous during adverse weather conditions. They also built a small Koma sari-sari [variety] store run by one of the single mothers and have very recently acquired a second-hand pick-up truck, which is used for bringing children to school and running many other Koma Karanth Foundation errands. 

There is no slowing down Maitreyi and her big plans for helping the community through the Koma Karanth Foundation. So far, all the houses they have built were for families who had land but no proper home, but plans are now underway to purchase land and build around 30 houses, alongside a community vegetable garden. “The idea is to build a community that will help each other and everyone can live happily. The houses will be leased for free to the residents, who can stay there for as long as they want, provided they adhere to being part of the kind of community we are trying to establish,” Maitreyi shared in a previous interview. “If that becomes a successful model, then we will build more communities like it,” she added.

Koma Karanth Foundation is a registered charity in Hong Kong. To make a donation or find out how you can help with their cause, please visit their website.