India 0405b

ACT Appeal ASRE51

India

August 3, 2005

Information provided by Nava Kiran, program officer of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI)

GENERAL SITUATION

In its tsunami-response operations, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI) has entered a new phase with a broader vision for its relief and rehabilitation projects in areas that were affected by the tsunami.

The UELCI core committee on the tsunami response met on May 24 in Chennai to discuss the needs and progression of the response operations. It was decided to continue addressing the food-security issue and to plan to organize food-for-work programs in different operational areas.

The launch of a planned housing project will happen without delay. The committee discussed the government’s housing policy in depth as well as the time schedule to complete the project, contracts, designs and technical specifications. The committee has been informed that the government has allotted land for the construction of houses by UELCI in Nagapattinam district including Tranquebar and Cuddalore.

The committee noted that UELCI has gained enormous experience and has increased its capacity in addressing disasters of great magnitude.

UPDATE ON SOME ACTIVITIES IN UELCI’s TSUNAMI RESPONSE

Permanent houses for tsunami survivors

The government of Tamil Nadu has given UELCI the responsibility of constructing around 800 houses in the Kancheepuram, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts of the state of Tamil Nadu. For the communities in Kancheepuram, the local government has allotted nearly 600 houses for UELCI to construct and hand over to tsunami survivors. The survey work has started, and construction will begin in a few days. The construction of permanent houses in Cuddalore was started a few weeks ago and has reached the midway point. According to the request from the Cuddalore government, the construction of a first set of 52 houses in Cuddalore is likely to be completed by the end of September.

UELCI reports that it enjoys a great degree of trust among these communities.

Livelihood programs for fisherfolk

It has been more than seven months since the tsunami struck the coast and destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people.

As part of UELCI’s continued assistance to tsunami-affected families, UELCI is implementing a wide range of programs in response to livelihood issues as well as rehabilitation for fishing and non-fishing communities.

On June 8, UELCI, in partnership with Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (an implementing partner) and Leipzig Mission, distributed 20 livelihood kits at Chandrapadi, a fishing village. Each livelihood kit included a fiberglass boat, a set of nets, and one 10 horsepower outboard motor.

It was a turning point for the fisherfolk at Chandrapadi as they ventured back out to sea in 20 new boats after a gap of five months and returned to their vocation.

“Christians, who are born to serve, are engaged in social action,” was the testimony given by a local revenue official, Mr. Ramesh, in Chandrapadi at a gathering at the distribution of the livelihood kits by UELCI. During the program, which was organized by the community, Mr. Ramesh expressed appreciation to UELCI for its work and initiatives and its partnership with the community to rebuild lives. He expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation on the church’s service and its efforts to help in rebuilding the communities.

The mission partnerships of UELCI have guided its livelihood interventions in the tsunami-relief operations. This livelihood-intervention program has significance as Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church heads toward its tercentennial celebrations at Tranquebar. Even for UELCI, this has become a very important operational area because of the historic Lutheran mission work at Tranquebar. UELCI is also focusing on and is committed to walking with oppressed communities, predominantly Dalits, who were neglected in this area during the relief phase.

UELCI, the community and the panchayat (local government) have planned this program together. Twenty groups covering 200 families have been formed in this livelihood-intervention program in Chandrapadi.

Through the entrepreneurial development program, five women’s self-help groups have also been formed. All of these groups have received livelihood kits.

Medical and psychosocial programs

UELCI’s tsunami-response medical relief camp has completed 21 weeks of operations in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. An eye clinic was conducted in which 305 patients were screened for problems, of which 42 were prescribed corrective glasses and 35 were found to have treatable disorders and referred for further therapy.

During the last week, 801 people were seen as outpatients. So far, a total of 32,961 people have been treated as outpatients. Of the adults, around 40 percent were men, and 60 percent were women. Of the total, 30 percent were children. The camp has also seen a total of 1,223 inpatients, and 111 orthopedic procedures have been undertaken. Also, 1,672 patients have been screened in the village camps, and 1,148 children have been examined during the school screening program. Thus, a total of 37,420 patients have received treatment through the medical clinic so far.

The Academy for Disaster management (ADEPT) has continued the psychosocial training program with the objective of rebuilding lives through community counselors. So far, 1,297 people have been trained and have spread out to the different areas of Cuddalore, Tranquebar, Kancheepuram and Kanyakumari districts that were affected by the tsunami.

For more information, contact The Rev. Chandran Paul Martin at +91 44 52174935 or uelci@vsnl.net, or visit the UELCI Web site.

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