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Family
Care Foundation Tsunami Relief in Tamil Nadu, India
September 1st, 2005 FCF Project Partner Family Services India
When I walked the beach this time, it was refreshing. It was as if life
had sprung up again in the hearts of the people. The beach, instead of
its previous state of being strewn with wreckage and debris, was now full
of new fishing boats. Men sat mending and preparing their new nets instead
of untangling or burning the endless cobweb nets that seemed like they
covered everything. There was hope in the air instead of despair, re-birth
instead of death. May 1st, 2005 The Target Group is school children between the ages of 6-14 affected by the Tsunami, as well as school dropouts from the fishing community, between the ages of 14 – 20 Estimated Costs over next 4 months: Building Costs 8 classrooms: $ 52,500 Total costs: $ 89,512
Project: Community Education Center This school provides free education for the children. During the initial
aftershocks of the tsunami the school played a vital role in providing
shelter for many of the victims. Presently there are 24 classes in the
school but only 19 classrooms and unless new classrooms are built the
school will have to be closed. As the management has already committed
to providing free education and training they are financially unable to
construct the new classrooms that are needed.
Project: Shelter Home for Tsunami Affected Children
(29 feet long, 7 feet wide and 4 feet deep): US$ 1,800 Each of the above mentioned boats can take 4-5 fishermen
out to sea at a time. The proceeds from the catch of the day are then
traditionally divided equally amongst those fishermen. Boat Launch! -- Our adaptation of the old Chinese proverb Family Services has been providing fiberglass-fishing boats to the Tsunami affected villages that are being used jointly by the fishermen for the common good of their villages. The income from their catch is being used for the sustenance of the entire village. We are thrilled to say that more motorized ‘Community Boats’ were launched at a fishing village called Thanthiyarayankuppam in Villupuram district, and 25 non-motorized fiberglass-fishing boats were launched at a fishing village called Songalikuppam in Cuddalore district! We will never forget these 2 momentous, emotionally charged days! It was the first time after the Tsunami that the fishermen from these 2 villages went back to sea and reeled in the fish. Our team had the privilege of going out to sea with the fishermen and joining them for a delicious fish curry meal afterwards. February 26, 2005
The Village Across the River It is common knowledge that the villages on the seashore have suffered
the maximum damage but a short while ago it was brought to our attention
that some villages further inland have also suffered extensive damage
but have received no aid. We sent out a scouting party and found out that
this was true! A village called Sungalikuppam consisting of 66 river fishermen
and their families were actually on the verge of starvation! -- The Tsunami
had caused the river water to suddenly swell and had swept their catamarans
out to sea. As a result they hadn’t been able to go fishing and
sustain themselves! The gratitude with which the residents of Sungalikuppam received these packs the next morning was moving. When our team returned to base camp after the distribution, we received a call from the village headman, Mr. V. Palanivelu, who said, "We have eaten today because you have brought us food". We are also working on providing non-motorized fiberglass fishing boats to these fishermen. We would also like to set up a playground with play equipment for the children in this village. January 21, 2005
Tools for Boat Carpenters: The Carpenters Association
of Malumiarpettai have lost their tools in the Tsunami. These are carpenters
who make a living and sustain their families by helping to make &
repair fishing boats. They requested us for tools to be able to continue
earning their livelihood. We have supplied all 51 members in the association
tools worth $126 each. January 15, 2005 Emotional Healing and Rehabilitation January 12, 2005 The Relief Commissioner of Cuddalore District, who has personally witnessed the reaction to these Emotional Healing Programs, and the District Collector of Cuddalore requested us to carry them out in 31 villages in Cuddalore district where the Tsunami devastated the lives of so many. Throughout February and early March, teams from FCF India will tour Cuddalore district with these special programs. This initiative will involve:
The District Administration meanwhile has given us a list of affected villages. This program is expected to touch the lives of at least 10,000 children in 31 villages. We need your help in sponsoring our volunteers as well as supplying needed educational and personal hygiene items for the children.
After stopping in Pondicherry for breakfast, we went to town called Thazhanguda, one of the worse affected towns in the District. All along the way there were refugees living in temples and compounds and the 8 kms of road leading from the main road to the devastated beach areas was strewn with piles of clothes that well-wishing relief groups had just dumped by the road side. Water tankers were making their way to the disaster site and trunks with food packets and grains were distributing their supplies to the crowds that were thronging them. We finally made it to the beach. We really couldn't have been prepared for what swept over me. In all our experience we have never really experienced such complete devastation as what now lay before us. Everything was just pushed back by the power of the sea and laid in heaps all over the entire stretch of beach. Boats wrapped around trees or pushed right through houses and what seemed like miles of tangled fish nets. Coconut palms, household articles, clothes and debris. But what struck me most was the feeling that Hope was gone. It was like when someone knocks the wind out of you physically, but in the spirit. I don't know how to explain it. Most of the people had evacuated but here and there were individuals or families just staring out into nothing. There was one man that I noticed when I had first arrived that was just sitting there in the sand "gazing". In his lap were food packets and small loaves of bread that aid workers had placed there but you could see they didn't mean anything to him. I wandered into one house or what remained of a house to find a small makeshift altar built with a small pile of children's clothes and schoolbooks,and candles lit. Then the man that I had noticed sitting on the beach came in and started talking to me in Tamil saying that he had lost everything, his wife and 3 of his 5 children, his home and his boat, I could tell he just didn't have it in him to know how to start to rebuild his life. Not knowing what to do I just took him in my arms and hugged him and then he just burst forth in tears and uncontrollable crying and grief and I too could not restrain the heart ache. At last he got it out, all the pent up grief and uncertainty and questions at last had an outlet and came gushing forth. How long we stood like this I'm not sure but the tears we shared were from our hearts. Inside I felt like there was hope. A Catholic nun we are working with shared a similar experience and she said this was the first day that some of the people/ families that were hardest hit were able to even say anything or even make an effort to express the anguish that was inside. Anyone coming here must realize that when they come. These people hurt deep inside. Not only do they need to rebuild their homes and lives and means of lively hood but many of them need to find a reason to even put forth the effort to carry on. We travelled to 4 villages yesterday and each story was the same. On one island there were 128 people living. All are gone. On another small peninsula they said the waves were as high as the trees and those that survived did so by either climbing the trees or grabbing on to the branches as they were swept by. One man, whom we talked with, had come back to claim the bodies of his mother and sister in law. When the wave hit he was tending his nets. He said he was picked up and thrown across the peninsula and found himself on the landside of beach.
Phase 1:
Every FOUR DOLLARS will supply a child with a Children’s Relief Pack, consisting of:
Every EIGHTEEN DOLLARS will supply a family with a Family Relief Pack, consisting of:
Phase 2: 150 DOLLARS will supply a village family with: 500 DOLLARS help a village family fix their fishing boat, motor, and/or nets damaged in the disaster. Can you please help? As you can see above, even a small donation can help.
December 29, 2004 We’ve set up a base of operations in Cuddalore to receive aid and workers and then in cooperation w/ CERP we can dispatch the aid and the workers. The first three village areas that we’ll be concentrating on are Injambakkam, Vettuvankeni fishing village, and Kovallam. One thing that’s very important at times like this is building a rapport between the people affected, including the Village Head, and the NGO that’s trying to help them. On Father Vincent’s team are 2 Sisters who are doing most of the information gathering and reaching out to the fishermen and their families. Gita, one of the Sisters, is a real go-getter and she knows how these people think and act. She also knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of aid and assistance and the red tape and lengthy process that can be involved so she really gets things moving. Working with Father Vincent of Coastal Earthquake Relief Program is a pleasure. He is a very sweet, dedicated and humble man and also very capable. He has commissioned teams to all the affected villages along the coast, who have compiled list of all the families, the extent of the loss they have incurred and together we made a 3 phase programme as to how to go about meeting those needs. Another big factor involved in relief work is making sure that goods reach the affected families. Yesterday we witnessed a sad situation with another agency in one village where things were getting out of hand and the people distributing aid couldn’t control the crowd so people started just grabbing things off of the truck! A well-meaning church in Chennai had sent two truckloads of pots, sheets, eating and cooking utensils valued at about $7000 and someone directed the other truck to go to one of the affected villages. This truck never made it. When it was getting near the site, someone let the word out that they were carrying pots, sheets and utensils and the truck was mobbed, the goods virtually looted from the truck and the driver had to flee the site. These are all factors that have to be addressed in organizing an efficient relief operation. What we worked out with these folks was to issue an identification card for each affected family, so they have a case number and as we distributed the goods they have to show their card and then check it off the list. One of the main topics the villagers, largely fishermen by trade, wanted to discuss was for the loss of their boats and livelihood. It was suggested by the government that each NGO “adopt” a few such villages and see them through to complete rehabilitation. From short term immediate to long term self-sufficiency and complete ownership of boats and houses. As it stands now they would have to take loans out to reconstruct but they have nothing to put up to get such loans. This is where the 3 phase of restoration comes into play, with the final stage being personal ownership/ possession. (See more below.) At that point, whatever is not needed in “our” villages we can offer to other villages or NGOs. December 27, 2004 FCF Tsunami program undertaken in Tamil Nadu villages:
To assist tsunami victims at the grassroots level, please donate online: Tsunami Fund FCF assures that 100% of all donations
designated for tsunami
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