Friday, March 25, 2005
What is happening to steel trunks promised by Peggy
The Club has moved ahead and has surced the steel trunks that was promised by Peggy to the women at the relief camp. we are having a Board meeting this evening and I will have more news about this. We will most probably be giving away the steel trunks and the catamarans the same day. This shoud happen in the next few weeks.
A Report from Peggy Carswell
Hello Strathcona Sunrise, Kel and I have just returned from a visit to one of the camps, and I wanted to take a few minutes to let you know how things are going.
Hari and the local club here have been taking very good care of us. We're staying at a flat owned by one of the members, and as well as carrying out the "business" end of things, have had several opportunities to enjoy the company of many Chennai-Kilpauk Rotarians. Last night we had a lovely potluck dinner, and I took the opportunity to present our hosts with the Strathcona Sunrise banner and the bank draft from Fertile Ground's fundraiser.Kel, Sarah and I visited several settlement areas south of Chennai with a group from the Chennai-Kilpauk Club on Sunday. Hari did a great job of describing the visit on the club's webpage - his photos and stories describe the situation here very accurately.
The situation in the camps remains quite awful - temporary shelters have been constructed, but very little in the way of medical aid, and almost no food apart from rice is making its way to the families who've been relocated there. Weather is hot and getting hotter. The shelters the gov't has provided are made from woven palms and plastic tarps - about 8' x 8' square - 6 feet at the centre and 3 feet high at the sides. No groundsheet, just sitting on the sand.
This was our second visit to this camp. It's located about 70 km. south of Chennai. A wife of one of the Rotary members accompanied us there today to act as translator so that we could hear directly from the women about what's needed, and what's happening in the way of aid.
As Hari's reports explain, people in the camps have been given cooking pots, water containers and stoves, but have no place to store their bedclothes, dishes or belongings. They've asked that the funds raised by Fertile Ground be used to provide each family with a small shelf unit or metal suitcase with a lock so they have a secure, dry place to keep their things.
There were lots of tears and frustration expressed this afternoon - fishing boats and nets have been destroyed, people have lost their homes, and now the government wants them to relocate on land across the new super highway, about 1 km. from the shoreline. Gov't officials say it's to make sure they're on high ground, safe from any further flooding, but local people worry that the government is taking the opportunity to basically expropriate the prime ocean-front land that was granted to the fishing families a number of years back. At that time, the city of Chennai was a long distance from their homes. Now the settled area has expanded up and down the coastline - pretty similar to the situation along the coast of Vancouver Island.
In addition to purchasing the chests or cabinets, we're going to explore whether it's possible for the Chennai Rotary Club to arrange for weekly delivery of a supply of fresh vegetables to the 180 families in this camp - it feels like such a small drop in the bucket, but hard to know what else we can do in the short-term.
The state gov't has announced big plans, but apart from making sure people have drinking water and a roof over their heads, there isn't much more happening. The Chennai-Kilpauk Rotary Club has decided to purchase simple catamaran boats and nets for a village just south of the one we visited today so that people there can get back to work and feed their families. There are some grants and loan schemes being set up by the gov't, but no one is very confident people will get access to the funds very quickly. It's pretty discouraging and overwhelming.
Things haven't all been gloomy - we've visited a couple of the many worthwhile projects supported by the local club, and had a very interesting and worthwhile visit to the organic farming resource centre set up by the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems yesterday - more about this part of our trip later.
We're catching an early morning bus south to Pondicherry tomorrow, and returning to Chennai next Wednesday. We've made plans to visit that afternoon with some of the people who've received prosthesis through the Helping Hands Project. On Thursday morning, we board the Guwahati Express and begin our 56 hour train ride to Guwahati, Assam. Rahul, one of the club members, and his wife are planning to drop by tonight for a visit, so I'll sign off now and head back to our flat.
Thanks very much for the assistance you provided in making arrangements for us here in Chennai, Chip. Everyone looks forward to the opportunity of meeting with you and Karen next year - I hope you'll be able to make the trip! The support that's been provided over the past few years by Strathcona Sunrise is very much appreciated by people here. I'll send along a bit more information about my visit later in the week.
Peggy Carswell
Hari and the local club here have been taking very good care of us. We're staying at a flat owned by one of the members, and as well as carrying out the "business" end of things, have had several opportunities to enjoy the company of many Chennai-Kilpauk Rotarians. Last night we had a lovely potluck dinner, and I took the opportunity to present our hosts with the Strathcona Sunrise banner and the bank draft from Fertile Ground's fundraiser.Kel, Sarah and I visited several settlement areas south of Chennai with a group from the Chennai-Kilpauk Club on Sunday. Hari did a great job of describing the visit on the club's webpage - his photos and stories describe the situation here very accurately.
The situation in the camps remains quite awful - temporary shelters have been constructed, but very little in the way of medical aid, and almost no food apart from rice is making its way to the families who've been relocated there. Weather is hot and getting hotter. The shelters the gov't has provided are made from woven palms and plastic tarps - about 8' x 8' square - 6 feet at the centre and 3 feet high at the sides. No groundsheet, just sitting on the sand.
This was our second visit to this camp. It's located about 70 km. south of Chennai. A wife of one of the Rotary members accompanied us there today to act as translator so that we could hear directly from the women about what's needed, and what's happening in the way of aid.
As Hari's reports explain, people in the camps have been given cooking pots, water containers and stoves, but have no place to store their bedclothes, dishes or belongings. They've asked that the funds raised by Fertile Ground be used to provide each family with a small shelf unit or metal suitcase with a lock so they have a secure, dry place to keep their things.
There were lots of tears and frustration expressed this afternoon - fishing boats and nets have been destroyed, people have lost their homes, and now the government wants them to relocate on land across the new super highway, about 1 km. from the shoreline. Gov't officials say it's to make sure they're on high ground, safe from any further flooding, but local people worry that the government is taking the opportunity to basically expropriate the prime ocean-front land that was granted to the fishing families a number of years back. At that time, the city of Chennai was a long distance from their homes. Now the settled area has expanded up and down the coastline - pretty similar to the situation along the coast of Vancouver Island.
In addition to purchasing the chests or cabinets, we're going to explore whether it's possible for the Chennai Rotary Club to arrange for weekly delivery of a supply of fresh vegetables to the 180 families in this camp - it feels like such a small drop in the bucket, but hard to know what else we can do in the short-term.
The state gov't has announced big plans, but apart from making sure people have drinking water and a roof over their heads, there isn't much more happening. The Chennai-Kilpauk Rotary Club has decided to purchase simple catamaran boats and nets for a village just south of the one we visited today so that people there can get back to work and feed their families. There are some grants and loan schemes being set up by the gov't, but no one is very confident people will get access to the funds very quickly. It's pretty discouraging and overwhelming.
Things haven't all been gloomy - we've visited a couple of the many worthwhile projects supported by the local club, and had a very interesting and worthwhile visit to the organic farming resource centre set up by the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems yesterday - more about this part of our trip later.
We're catching an early morning bus south to Pondicherry tomorrow, and returning to Chennai next Wednesday. We've made plans to visit that afternoon with some of the people who've received prosthesis through the Helping Hands Project. On Thursday morning, we board the Guwahati Express and begin our 56 hour train ride to Guwahati, Assam. Rahul, one of the club members, and his wife are planning to drop by tonight for a visit, so I'll sign off now and head back to our flat.
Thanks very much for the assistance you provided in making arrangements for us here in Chennai, Chip. Everyone looks forward to the opportunity of meeting with you and Karen next year - I hope you'll be able to make the trip! The support that's been provided over the past few years by Strathcona Sunrise is very much appreciated by people here. I'll send along a bit more information about my visit later in the week.
Peggy Carswell
Sunday, March 13, 2005
This picture was taken on the 12th of March close to the Southern most tip of India. The waves are still huge and this is due to sand erosion because of the Tsunami whch stuck the coast. The waves being firece pose a threat to the lives of the fishermen but these men brave the sea and go out to fish on their catamarans.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Many people have asked me how a catamran looks like. OK Here is a representative picture. Yes the actual catamran is more like a raft rather then what most people are used to. I see pictures of catamarans which are rather sophisticated. The true catamaran is what you see here and is used by some of the bravest fishermen in the world. This is the type of boats that we are going to be giving away to the fishermen here in Chennai. Yes these are used by the fishermen to go into the oceans to fish and they come back with enough catch which they sell to make a living. The word catamaran comes from the Tamil Language and is actually two words which has now fused into one. The two words are Kattu and Maram. Maram means wood and Kattu means tied together. Thus catamaran means in tamil pieces of wood tied together.
We are giving away Catamarans
We have placed order for 28 Catamarans and 56 fishing nets that will go with these catamarans. The catamarans will be handed over in the first week fo April to the fishermen of the village Puthukuppam. This has been made possible by the Rotary Club of Medford Rogue and the initiative was spearheaded by Rtn. Tim Johnson who visited us last month and who travelled with us to the village carrying relief supplies.
We had contemplated the possibility of giving monies as loans to the fishermen who will then go and buy the catamarans and they would repay the loans and which would have enables us to reach out to more people with catamarans. But there was resistance to this idea and it was explained t us that the fishermen would not like to make a commitment on repayment becuase they had lost everything they had to the Tsunami and the need was so much. The apprehension being "would we be able to repy a loan from our small income (about USD 100 a month)? Once we junderstood their problem we decided that we will give away the catamrans and nets without a tag to them and help these people find their lives again.
The catamarans will be given away with the nets in the first week of April and all this at a total cost of about USD 20,000 and all this from one Rotary Club. Thanks Tim and thanks RC of Medford Rogue. This will put an entire village of Puthukuppam back on its feet.
We had contemplated the possibility of giving monies as loans to the fishermen who will then go and buy the catamarans and they would repay the loans and which would have enables us to reach out to more people with catamarans. But there was resistance to this idea and it was explained t us that the fishermen would not like to make a commitment on repayment becuase they had lost everything they had to the Tsunami and the need was so much. The apprehension being "would we be able to repy a loan from our small income (about USD 100 a month)? Once we junderstood their problem we decided that we will give away the catamrans and nets without a tag to them and help these people find their lives again.
The catamarans will be given away with the nets in the first week of April and all this at a total cost of about USD 20,000 and all this from one Rotary Club. Thanks Tim and thanks RC of Medford Rogue. This will put an entire village of Puthukuppam back on its feet.
Tim Johnson's website
I have just been to Tim's website and I am reproducing some excerpts here.
With the hundreds of millions of dollars that has been given by individuals and governments for Tsunami relief, have you ever wondered where it all went and what else needs to be done? I did. Everyone visiting this website can help. Read on. . . .
On February 9, 2005 I embarked on a 15 day journey in Sri Lanka and India to see for myself the status of disaster relief efforts, how a person can help and how an individual or company more than 10,000 miles away can know their money actually reached the people who need it.
My personal fact-finding mission would not have been possible without the help of Rotarians in Sri Lanka and India who arranged meetings, provided the documents to support the charitable claims and, most importantly, made it possible for me to meet and talk with and share laughs and have tea with the refugees who will need our help for a long, long time.
What I found was truly amazing. The people of Sri Lanka and India have a positive spirit that will carry them through. One young man in a camp north of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka told me how he held onto his mother as long as he could and then watched as she slipped away and drowned. Their hearts are strong, but their wounds to the body and soul are deep.
How to help? In India, the Rotary Club of Chennai Kilpauk has a charitable trust, independently audited, tax exempt under Indian law and licensed by the Indian government to accept foreign charitable contributions. My home Rotary club, Medford Rogue, sent money to the Indian trust account. Every penny reached that account. The club there used some of the money to purchase rice and stoves. Then the Chennai Kilpauk club sent a person into the camps and pre-qualified each recipient before they received the supplies. On February 20, 2005 we delivered the supplies. Each person had a voucher which was turned in exchange for the goods. Complete accountability.
With the hundreds of millions of dollars that has been given by individuals and governments for Tsunami relief, have you ever wondered where it all went and what else needs to be done? I did. Everyone visiting this website can help. Read on. . . .
On February 9, 2005 I embarked on a 15 day journey in Sri Lanka and India to see for myself the status of disaster relief efforts, how a person can help and how an individual or company more than 10,000 miles away can know their money actually reached the people who need it.
My personal fact-finding mission would not have been possible without the help of Rotarians in Sri Lanka and India who arranged meetings, provided the documents to support the charitable claims and, most importantly, made it possible for me to meet and talk with and share laughs and have tea with the refugees who will need our help for a long, long time.
What I found was truly amazing. The people of Sri Lanka and India have a positive spirit that will carry them through. One young man in a camp north of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka told me how he held onto his mother as long as he could and then watched as she slipped away and drowned. Their hearts are strong, but their wounds to the body and soul are deep.
How to help? In India, the Rotary Club of Chennai Kilpauk has a charitable trust, independently audited, tax exempt under Indian law and licensed by the Indian government to accept foreign charitable contributions. My home Rotary club, Medford Rogue, sent money to the Indian trust account. Every penny reached that account. The club there used some of the money to purchase rice and stoves. Then the Chennai Kilpauk club sent a person into the camps and pre-qualified each recipient before they received the supplies. On February 20, 2005 we delivered the supplies. Each person had a voucher which was turned in exchange for the goods. Complete accountability.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
This picture was taken at Mukti where artificial limbs are made for the disabled. This picture is of a 22 year old perosn who is being fitted with a caliper, he has refused to go through a corrective surgery because of his fears. I was able to talk to him for about 20 minutes and explained that there was nothing to be worried about and that he must go to IPD Ortho centr the next day and meet Anne kalpana who would ensure that his surgery would be performed without a problem.
Tsunami relief and the Rotary Club of Medford Rogue
The Club has been working overtime to reach out to the Tsunami affected, while the focus has shifted from providing emeregncy relief and food to rehabilitating the fisherfolk. The Club has decided to purchase catamarans and nets for fishermen in a village called Puthukuppam and help them get back on their feet.
This village was visited byTim Johnson of the Medford Rogue Rotary Club and Peggy Carswell fo the RC fo strathcona Sunrise.
While reports have reached us that many of the fishermen are not using the boats given to them in protest of rehabilitation measures not reaching the fishermen in equal measure we have asked the village for assurance that if the boats are given to them they would be used.
Quotations of rthe catamarans and the nets have bene received and orders for the same would be placed very soon. Meanwhile we have received news from Tim Johnson that the Board of Directors of his club have approved to send us USD 20,000 immediately for buying boats, he also hoped that moe will come soon as a result of his Tele broadcast in which he has explained what we have done and hot eh boats can be bought. He has set a target of 500 boats in 50 days and this will be accomplished if he is able to motivate people to send us $730 each.
The next few months are going to be very busy ones when we undertake the rehabilitation work.
This village was visited byTim Johnson of the Medford Rogue Rotary Club and Peggy Carswell fo the RC fo strathcona Sunrise.
While reports have reached us that many of the fishermen are not using the boats given to them in protest of rehabilitation measures not reaching the fishermen in equal measure we have asked the village for assurance that if the boats are given to them they would be used.
Quotations of rthe catamarans and the nets have bene received and orders for the same would be placed very soon. Meanwhile we have received news from Tim Johnson that the Board of Directors of his club have approved to send us USD 20,000 immediately for buying boats, he also hoped that moe will come soon as a result of his Tele broadcast in which he has explained what we have done and hot eh boats can be bought. He has set a target of 500 boats in 50 days and this will be accomplished if he is able to motivate people to send us $730 each.
The next few months are going to be very busy ones when we undertake the rehabilitation work.
Centennial Awards function - 5th March 2005
Members of the Club decided to present three people with awards. These awards would recognise those people for their commitment and contribution to society and motivate others in joining their list.
Preparations started atleast one month ahead of the event and everything was carefully planned and meticulously executed. Every minute fo the award function was deliberated on and it was hoped that we would have a fast paced event lasting not more than 1.5 hours at the most, an event where the audience would not be bored and this was comfirmed by the fact that not one, yes not a single person from the audience left the Ball room at the Madras Club till the event was closed and the National Anthem was sung.
As Sampath, the District Chair for the Rotary Foundation remarked "the event was superb and very well done, it was well organized, decorum maintained throughout and it was classy"
Many PDGs were present and all of them felt that this event has riased the standards of similar events.
Preparations started atleast one month ahead of the event and everything was carefully planned and meticulously executed. Every minute fo the award function was deliberated on and it was hoped that we would have a fast paced event lasting not more than 1.5 hours at the most, an event where the audience would not be bored and this was comfirmed by the fact that not one, yes not a single person from the audience left the Ball room at the Madras Club till the event was closed and the National Anthem was sung.
As Sampath, the District Chair for the Rotary Foundation remarked "the event was superb and very well done, it was well organized, decorum maintained throughout and it was classy"
Many PDGs were present and all of them felt that this event has riased the standards of similar events.
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