Disaster Relief: Second Report India
01/01/2005
SOS Tsunami Relief in India
“Many families in India and Sri Lanka have lost either a mother or a father, leaving behind a grieving single-parent and the children who survived the traumatic experience of the tsunami. In order to give these children hope for the future, it is vital to support their struggling parents in the rebuilding of their homes, communities and livelihoods” Siddhartha Kaul, SOS Children’s Villages South Asia.
SOS Children has identified 1,000 children from vulnerable single-parent families in India and will help these families by providing education, nutrition and healthcare.
SOS Children staff on the ground in India are working hard to rebuild the devastated Indian communities of Pudukuppam, Singaravalen and Akkampettai. SOS Children has already constructed temporary shelter (as shown in photo on right - Andrew I will get this) for 300 families - these families will also receive cooking utensils and a month’s ration of food. SOS Child Activity Centres will provide children with day-care, nutrition, therapeutic activities and psychological counselling for affected children.
From emergency aid to rebuilding lives…
Over the past week, families impacted by the Tsunami who have been cared for in SOS Children emergency shelters are now returning to the ruins of their villages. SOS Children is helping 400 families in the tsunami-hit fishing communities to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
Among the families being helped is Ramesh, who was helping his father prepare their fishing boat for work when the tsunami hit. Ramesh’s father was washed away by the sea forever and the family’s boats and nets destroyed. Ramesh now must care for his mother and two sisters. SOS Children is helping vulnerable families by providing them with the funds to rebuild their lives. Ramesh will be able to buy a new boat and nets and be given support to rebuild their family home.
SOS Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka
SOS Children continues to work in and around the southern towns of Galle and Piliyandala, and is one of the very few organisations providing aid in the badly affected eastern coast, some area are under LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) control. Eight SOS Child Activity Centres are now being set up at refugee camps in Komari, Iralodei, Wattawan and Kayankerni. These will provide around 1,500 children with basic education and therapeutic activities.
One thousand fishing families in eastern Sri Lanka are being helped with grants to build temporary shelter, as well as food and basic necessities. SOS Children is developing a programme with 60 youths aged 15 - 21 to help in the rebuilding process in Komari. All of these youths have grown up in SOS Children’s Villages in Sri Lanka.