Tsunami!

Tamil Nadu was left reeling from the devastation by the killer Tsunami that struck its shores on the morning of Sunday the 26th of December 2004. No one could escape the force of the tragedy that caught thousands of Tamil Nadu’s coastal dwellers unawares. The disbelief and injustice of this all was perhaps more profound because this was practically the first time that such a misfortune had struck here. Not only were the victims and the general public left without a clue as to how to react to or cope with the tragedy, the government machinery itself was largely unprepared to tackle the situation. The official death toll in Tamil Nadu state alone has crossed 8000, and the population affected nearly 10 lakh.

As a development organisation with a considerable support network of more than 300 NGOs working in all the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, Trust HELP pitched in to extend relief support both directly to the affected communities and through local NGOs distributed throughout the coastal districts in Tamil Nadu. Trust HELP began by taking stock of the type of relief needed by the affected communities and raising appropriate types and quantities of the relief material. It sought to access relief material contributions through its regional, national and international networks including the Ashoka Fellows network. It proceeded to directly transport the collected relief material to the most affected villages in the Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts and to distribute the relief packages to the people directly. It also identified responsible and appropriate NGOs doing effective work with the fishermen community and passed on selected relief material to these organisations for immediate distribution in the affected villages.

Within 24 hrs of the disaster, it raised contributions of clothes for the victims rendered homeless and without any personal possessions. The substantial amount generated as a result was distributed immediately to the worst affected coastal villages of Nagapattinam district personally by Trust HELP staff. Subsequently, responding to the need of medicines and dry rations, the same was raised through contributions from different agencies in the state and through NGO networks from all over the country. The organisation GOONJ* has been the major collaborator with Trust HELP in organising relief material collection and distribution to the affected parts in Tamil Nadu.

* GOONJ, based at New Delhi, is an organisation that has considerable experience in bridging the gap between those willing to share and give away their material resources and those who are in desperate need of such material. GOONJ’s volunteers have mobilised substantial amounts of relief material for the affected people in the Tsunami tragedy. For more details about GOONJ, please visit www.goonj.info

By the end of February 2005, about 50 lakhs worth of relief materials in the form of essential medicines, dry rations (including rice, sugar, Dhal, condiments), biscuits, new clothes, blankets, foot wear, and cooking utensils, were distributed to various affected parts in the State including the Chengalpet, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari districts.

We are continuing our efforts to coordinate the distribution of whatever items we receive as donation, through the NGO networks working in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.