ACT News Update

India 0205

Between love and hate, life with the ocean is rebuilt

Geneva, May 24, 2005—The lives of people on India’s southern coast, especially those in fishing villages, have been full of loss and devastation since the tsunami struck their villages on December 26. But the tsunami also resulted in an unprecedented outpouring of support for tsunami survivors from members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International around the world. A poem by Kokila, an 11-year-old girl from the village of Tranquebar in southern India, speaks about the pain the tsunami brought to her life and, ironically, the unexpected connection to many people around the world it brought as well (see sidebar to the right). Her poem echoes the love-hate emotions toward the ocean that many survivors may have been feeling in the months since the tsunami.

Kokila’s words could speak for the fishermen in many villages who lost their boats and equipment in the tsunami, leaving them with no means of earning an income. The United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI), working with Lutheran World Service India (LWSI), both members of ACT, is helping fishermen in several villages return to work as part of its overall response in the states of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

On the coast of Tamilnadu, UELCI continued its livelihood restoration program with the distribution on May 4 of 20 more livelihood “kits” for fishermen, which include one fiberglass boat, an engine and a set of nets, to four kuppams (villages) in the Kancheepuram area. UELCI and LWSI plan to provide kits to several hundred cooperatives, which are groups of ten or so families that will own and use the equipment together.

During the distribution, the coordinator of the livelihood program at Kancheepuram said, “Until now, it was so difficult for the community to live without any livelihood and since there was no other source of income.” He added, “I appreciate the NGOs’ work here, which responded very fast and supported the community.”

In addition to providing assistance to affected fishermen who suffered the most visible losses, UELCI is assisting another group of people whose lives are closely linked with fishing businesses but who are marginalized. According to UELCI, Girijans in the areas of Sullurpet and Tada in Andhra Pradesh are neglected communities that are living in abject poverty, lacking food, clothing and shelter, and that are even excluded from the government’s welfare system.

The only source of income for some Girijan families living around the lake near the town of Pulicat was selling fresh or dried fish at the market. With the halt in fishing since the end of December, many Girijan families have had no income and way to buy food. The government’s relief measures assisted families directly involved in fishing but provided no assistance for Girijans.

With the help of the local government and some non-governmental organizations, UELCI noticed this overlooked group and has provided dry rations to 309 Girijan families, which were distributed at a local church and in some villages.

The ocean described in Kokila’s poem has been both a source of love and hate, and of life and death for the people of this part of India. But for many who experienced the tsunami, in between these two extremes, life will be rebuilt, and life will continue.