Bhubaneswar: Love knows no boundaries. This saying has become true for a German woman who not only tied the knot with a differently-abled man from Sonepur in Odisha but also left her lucrative teaching profession in United Kingdom to assist her husband to set up an eco-village and a school for the deaf in his home district.

Ulrik Jesan along with her husband Shivaji Panda, a former professor at University of Central Lancashire in UK, has set up Sikha Eco-Village and Happy Hands School for the Deaf near the banks Mahanadi river at Lakhanpur in Binika block of Sonepur district.

Panda, a resident of Sindurapur near Binika, had completed his graduation from a college in Sonepur before moving to Australia to pursue higher studies.

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Panda, who has been suffering from hearing impairment since his birth, had completed his Master’s degree in Sign Language from Australia. Subsequently, he got an opportunity to work as a professor in Sign Language at University of Central Lancashire, where he met Ulrik.

Despite knowing Panda’s hearing impairment, Ulrik fell in love with him. They got married in a court in London.

Soon after their wedding, Ulrik learnt about the culture and tradition of Odisha and India. She started wearing sari and other Indian clothes.

The couple later bought a piece of land near the banks of Mahanadi in Sonepur and set up an eco-village.

With an aim to do something for the hearing impaired children, the couple left their teaching profession in UK and established a school for the deaf at their eco-village.

The couple has raised at least 60 varieties of trees and plants in the eco-village, which is now attracting many nature lovers and environmentalists from across the globe.