Photo Essay

India 08/05

Children equipped for their return to school

Edavanakad, Kerala, April 5, 2005

Photos and text by Peter Høvring, DanChurchAid /ACT International.

March 31 was a special day for residents of the small fishing community of Edavanakad. Churches Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, distributed school materials to the children in the village.

This is just one part of the assistance CASA has provided after the tsunami hit India and other Asian countries on December 26, 2004.

The village is situated in the Indian state of Kerala in southern India. The tsunami did not hit in many places here. But the impact was profound in the villages that were hit.

The local team leader, Rajan Mathew, explains how CASA has made assessments in the villages and that on that basis, the people with the greatest needs have been identified.

Registration lists and cards for each person receiving the items are part of the assessment and distribution process.

CASA provided a backpack filled with notebooks, pencils and math tools. A lunchbox and an umbrella for the upcoming monsoon season was also added.

On top of that, each school child received a bag containing fabric for clothes (gender-specific and matching the local taste).

But why not textbooks? Mathew explains that the curriculum might change, and CASA did not want to provide material that might become obsolete. So after school starts within a few months, textbooks are likely to follow.

The community of Edavanakad is still living in a temporary settlement close to the homes that were washed away by the tsunami. They live in constant fear of another tidal wave. The second tsunami warning on March 28 brought back terrible memories and the trauma surrounding last year's disaster.

But the villagers have started rebuilding their lives. With the help of CASA, supported by ACT members around the world, they are building new houses – stronger than the old ones. The latest distribution of school materials was another step towards a better life.