Disaster Management Workshops and Other Campaigns

There have also been several demonstrations and protests organized by different groups against the bad quality temporary housing and relief supplies, against delays in provision of boats, lack of amenities in the relief shelters, etc.  We participated in some of these – though in a very small way.

A number of organizations have been organizing seminars and workshops on disaster management with particular focus on the Tsunami and what should be the future actions. We participated in many of these workshops – workshops organized by TNSF, People’s Health Movement, Coastal Action Network, Infosys, etc.  We also are part of UNDP’s Tsunami coordination groups working on livelihood and overall rehabilitation.  We are also working with a few NGO coordination cells – that are trying to network all the organizations involved in the relief and rehabilitation work. 

5. Long Term Community Rebuilding Activities

There is no real line between medium term rehabilitation and long term community rebuilding activities – one merges into the other.  Several of the activities – like health and education work - that were started as part of the immediate relief and later as part of medium term relief have now become continuing long term programs.  But there are also a few activities like building schools that are very clearly long term activities.  We are now working on several of the long term activities – many of these activities have been started now but we will have to continue them for several year.  So this section has to be read both as a report of things done and of things planned and being done…

We have five different long term programs:

• Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education

• Health and Women’s Empowerment

• Livelihood and Agriculture

• Technology Interventions

• Mobilization, sports and youth groups

Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary Education

In this program, there are 3 main categories of programs:

• Quality improvement in government schools and balwadis

• Cluster level demonstration programs.

• Village level educational programs which supplement school education, provide community support and add extra dimensions to learning.