AID Meeting on 23 Jan 2005

Venue: Latha’s house on Langford Road

Time: 5:00 pm onwards

Attendees: Vasuki Setlur, Anbu, Zafar, Sarang, Girish Nuli, Santhosh Nair, Latha, Rajesh, Aparna, Vidya V., Kedari, Eshwar, Aradhana, Abirami, Yathindran Balaji, Balaji Kutty, Pradeep, Karthik, Parag, Guru, Arvind, Senthil, Prasanna

The meeting was to exchange viewpoints and give an idea about AID’s long term plan in the tsunami-hit areas. Most volunteers had been to the field and so were able to draw from their experiences there.

The one news to cheer about was that fisherfolks from Chinnangudi had launched 4 boats last week and the catch was shared by the entire village. Another is that Peter (AID Orissa) has set up a workshop to repair boats at Perumalpettai. A volunteer’s observation was that it might be more effective for people from Perumalpettai to spread the word and encourage such workshops in other neighbouring villages rather than have volunteers do it.

The issue of caste is very strong and quite noticeable. While it is not AID’s main agenda, volunteers and grassroot activists are well aware and will integrate solutions in their work.

Volunteers voiced the need for livelihood generation activities, be it fishing or alternate vocational training (for example, in one village, women requested for sewing machines). It might also be a good idea to inculcate savings habit in the villages. Forestry department should be involved in the plantation plan. People are willing to buy boats and fishing nets on their own (instead of waiting for the govt.’s compensation) if they’re given some soft loans. Inequality in distributing the boats/nets could cause a social problem. Some of the locals had expressed interest in having a say in the kind of shelter being provided by the govt., but felt they might need an NGO’s help in this. They supposedly hadn’t received any help from the fisherman’s cooperatives. There is also a need to set up scholarships for students to help them pursue their education.

Shristi works with distressed children and helps with counseling. A group from Shristi had visited a tsunami hit area and felt they were successful to an extent in helping the children relax. They plan to go back and train the local teachers in counseling.

Suggestions from volunteers about other organizations that might be helpful in long term rehab: Srinivasan Foundation in Bangalore (for training in growing medicinal plants as well as marketing the same), Sulabh International (for constructing community toilets), Univ of Agricultural Sciences (for finding a solution for farms that have degenerated due to stagnation of seawater).

It was noted that while people might be getting impatient to get back to their lives, NGOs cannot replace the govt in providing them the necessary compensation. Besides helping in the rehab, the NGOs have to join hands with the local people in monitoring what the govt. says and does and demand accountability.

The other important fact that was brought out was that while all volunteers can only help so much (with weekend volunteering or some partial volunteering on weekdays), it is ultimately the local folks (for example DYFI in Thirukadaiyur) who have been there from day one and will continue to be there, most of them despite problems in their personal lives. It is therefore important to give credit where credit is due and do diligent reporting on the same.

It was also made clear that AID doesn’t have any agenda of “adopting” villages or garnering credit for work done and was willing to help other NGOs that are already doing work in the villages.

AID’s preliminary long term plan is to make a difference where the govt and other NGOs might not necessarily pitch in. It is well known that the PM relief fund as well as some of the better known NGOs have acquired more funds than ever and all are planning on concentrating on fishing boats, nets and shelter. While this is essential, AID believes that it doesn’t have to utilize its funds for the same purpose, and instead in sectors where it will be needed an year from now when all the other players will leave. For example, counseling will be still required, but AID will not do just that and leave. Instead AID would like to help out with mobile health vans that will not only help with counseling but be a part of the villages’ infrastructure for many more years. Other ideas include mobile vans for education, public libraries, vocational training centers, scholarships for students, and work in agriculture sector to figure out the solution for fields that have been rendered useless due to stagnation of sea water.