Tsunami travels
Subsequent to the Tsunami wiping out lives and homes in the East Coast of India, the Rotary Cub of Chennai Kilpauk swung into action to reach out to those affected by this natural disaster. On 26th evening cart loads of clothes had been collected and message had gone out asking for food. On the morning of 27th all clothes had been distributed and so also food and other materials.
A Board meeting was held to seek the opinion of the Board members and then talk to members of the Club to see how the Club could use its abilities and skills in reaching help to those affected. Amidst conflicting reports and confusing requests a pattern seemed to emerge. What was required was relief in the form of day to day items which are used in every household and in the long term a programme for rehabilitation.
The Club started to put together its resources and commenced working on its plan for providing relief to those affected by the Tsunami. Over 10 Rotarians put in many hours of work for a period of over 10 days and used many of their staff in Chennai and in Locations like Bhuvanagiri, Pondicherry, and Nagapattinam to understand how we could be of help and in setting up the base so that materials could reach the needy.
The list of materials requested kept changing with every call and meeting, the Govt. authorities wanted something different from what the Club members were told by other NGOs and people. Slowly a pattern emerged and the Club decided that it would put together its “Family Building kits” and distribute them in the affected areas.
Over 20 Metric tones of rice was procured and packed in a matter of few days and the members started putting together the material for the kits. The kits were ready by 6th evening and the members left for the Tsunami affected areas on the morning of 7th January 2005. The Trucks carrying the relief materials would reach their destinations before the members arrived and be ready for distribution.
Non members who had volunteered had already reached these locations and had started to distribute tokens to those who were affected by the Tsunami. This painstaking effort needed time and a lot of effort and could not be done on one day. By the time the members reached the destinations people were ready with their tokens.
As regards the materials procured there was no compromising the quality of materials, the club decided that while it was important to reach to large numbers it was vital that the materials provided by the Club would be of good quality. This approach was approved by everyone though we would reach out to a lesser number of people,
The members of the Club were personally involved in identifying the material, negotiating the prices and inspecting them for quality.
While some members were putting the material together, some where working on the logistics and a few were interacting with the Govt. authorities and NGOs to ensure support, some members were bringing and putting the funds together.
Locations had been finalised, kits had been put together, funds had come in and it was time for us to leave.
Two Toyota Qualis arranged for by two members of the club with drivers was used to transport members to the distribution points. All distribution points were by the seaside but there would be no time for fun, wetting your feet or for relaxation.
10 of us left Chennai at 6 in the morning and proceeded to Pondicherry. A few kilometers away from Pondicherry was the fishing village of Veerampattinam, (“ram” as in as in C’rom’well and patt as in but), we had breakfast in Pondicherry a once French Colony and drove down to Veerampattinam, where people were waiting for us. The trucks had arrived with 20 tonnes of rice packed in 15 Kgs bags, ready fro distribution, the police had arrived to ensure order and so that no unruly elements could disrupt the order. This consignment of rice was sponsored by Godrej Sara Lee and Sumangala Steels, our President being the Managing Director of the latter; the contribution from the RCCK was matched by these organizations.
The Club had received information about the village and what was required, only rice would be distributed here, no kits. This was because most homes were intact but there was no food because the men could not go out to fish.
The fishing village had lost most of its boats and what was left was damaged. The fishermen had no nets. They were whiling away their time not knowing what to do. The women were trying to find food. Though this village had lost only a few lives, they now had no means of livelihood.
The people in this village wanted a means of getting back to sea. Like most poor people they did not have the heart to throw away their old nets which were lying all around giving the impression that they had enough nets to get started. I inspected a few piles of nets and was surprised to find that the nylon nets where in such bad shape that when I pulled at the strings they just came away, the nets were obviously old and could not be used. I asked them to clear up the beach and throw away the nets which could not be used. This would help NGOs visiting the village to assess their needs and provide what they can.
Once the rice distribution was over, we moved onto Cuddalore, where we had lunch at our President’s Father in Law’s home. After lunch we moved on, we drove down to a place called “Killai” a large area comprising of many small fishing hamlets on the mangrove swamps of Porto Novo. The entire place had been devastated, thousands were homeless and many lives had been lost. Those who were alive had moved inland and effused to go back to their land, there were almost no homes left for them to go back to anyway. There was one village MGR Thittu which was completely wiped out with only a handful of survivors. I was told that on the 26th after the Tsunami hit them, those were alive moved inland in fear and came back the next day to their homes to retrieve what they could. What nature had not taken away was removed by burglars. All their savings, their livelihood had been removed. Now in spite of the Tsunami not wrecking their homes, they had still lost everything they had. This was a story we would hear in almost every place. Many had been living in 2 storey concrete houses and now they were reduced to living in relief camps.
Many women who accepted the kits from us here were crying and bemoaning their fate. They who had once lived happily and in comfort (compared to their present situation) where now reduced having to stand in queues and to accept these offerings.
The queues had started to form and it was decided to hand over the kits from the lorries itself. The police helped maintain discipline. The people were orderly and helped us in helping them
Next morning we reached Nagapattinam and reached the Star Kalyana Mahal, (Star Marriage Hall) where over 200 people were living. Tokens had already been issued to about 500 families who were living in and around this location. Again there was no dearth of gruesome tales and I will refrain from retelling these stories since it really serves no purpose other than to satisfy those who get charged with such stories there are too many to tell.
The lorries arrived and the kits were handed over to the families who came in with tokens. Later kits were distributed to those without tokens but who looked needy.
After the kits were distributed here we drove down to Velankanni the famous seashore church village. Here over 1000 had dies and misery still lived. We walked into a deserted church, a rarity because this temple has over 50000 people coming in on a normal day and this doubled during weekends and we were there on Saturday. Everything within 200 metres of the shore was ruined. There are very many small houses (like ghettos) on the side roads leading to the beach from the Church. Again there were many horror stories about the water, death, loss of property and suffering. We had come here to visit the Parish priest to find out if he could provide land for a water treatment plant. We waited and met him, when we told what we wanted to do he told us that he had already taken care of everything. There was nothing much that we could do. AND if there was anything that we could do, he would get in touch with us. Feeling really low and let down after this meeting we left Velankanni for Chennai. We saw so much death, suffering and misery and this man tells us that he has done everything, in this place there can never be enough at this point in time.
Schools have been occupied by these people, they have no place to go, now the schools want to reopen. Where will these people go? If they do not move out what will happen to children’s education?
(Lesson 1) I am sure there must be a way relief material can be distributed in a more dignified manner. The people receiving them must as feel good as us who give them.
(Lesson 2) When someone offers help, show gratitude, humbleness and find out how both can work together to help people. Never brush off someone saying that you have done everything already.
(Lesson 3) No one can reach out to the people like the Govt. this is because of the machinery available, the reach and the administrative power. Without the help of the Govt. we would never have been able to reach out to the people the way we did. Many feel that it is difficult to work with the Govt. and that much goes waste and red tape is difficult to handle. We encountered no red tape and in fact we were able to get our work done smoothly and in a much shorter time thanks to the co operation of the Govt.
(Lesson 4) Our rice and relief kits were in great demand. May who had received materials came and requested for our kits in Porto Novo because the vessels given by others were of poor quality. If you can give only one vessel give it, rather than giving away 2 vessels of bad quality.
(Lesson 5) Do not ignore the old, they also need our help. I noticed that in many cases the elderly could not get enough to eat or other relief material because they did not have the energy to stand in the snaking queues to get those “tokens” which entitle them to “kits”. Can we not have special counters for them? We still live in a world where only the fittest survive, so who is going to take care of the old? The women who are timid and who are not able to thrust themselves?
What we plan to do:
Our 2 days of travel into the affected areas and discussions with those who have been affected and Govt. agencies have thrown open possibilities. We need to build infra structure, houses and schools. We need to get the men back to work, provide them with the required equipment, take care orphans. More importantly prevent the unscrupulous from exploiting the situation and safeguard the women and the children and the elderly.
There is so much to be done, sooooo much.
The members who traveled have discussed various options and have some ideas. What we need to do now is to consolidate our funds. Once this is done and we know what can be done, maybe an orphanage? This could be with another Not for profit which has extensive experience in handling orphans.
There will be a series of meetings over the next few days to firm up plans.
Meanwhile, 3 water treatment plants are in our hands which will be installed shortly. These plants provide 200 litres of drinking water per hour but would need non brackish water. It is hoped that these plants will be installed in the next week or so.
We hope to obtain 2 or 3 larger water treatment plants which will support the water needs of a community, as much as 50,000 litres of water a day.
Discussions have commenced with Govt. authorities on the way forward.
However, we need all the help we can get. Unless work starts in right earnest now, and people see hope and are confident that something will happen to alleviate their misery, they will not be able to move forward.
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