Please read the mail below, received from a friend who works for Aid India.
FYI, Aid India is an organization started by Indians who studied in the USA and wanted to give back to India. Their India office, from where the NGO work is being coordinated in Tamilnadu is in Chennai at the following address:AID-IndiaOld No 132, New No 242, Avvai Shanmugam RoadGopalapuram, Chennai - 600 086Ph: 044- 28350403, 28115058
You can also donate online to Aid India @ http://www.aidindia.org/aidadmin/OneforIndiaDonate.jsp?p=Relief
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Dear Friends,
(If one of you can send this on the PHA NCC group - please do so. Also if the above emails bounce, please send it to the groups you can.)
Reporting from Chennai about the Relief efforts on the Tsunami hit areas. Please use the information here to collect donations, clothes, medicines, write up proposals for the rehab work, etc.
After the initial shock and chaos, we are now quite well organized to handle the relief efforts. A number of organizations have started working together to handle the relief work - AID, TNSF, Pondicherry Science Forum, DYFI, Vidyarambam, Pratham and the PHM Organizations. We have formed a quick informal coalition to coordinate this work. As of now the state level coordination is being done from the AID-India office in Gopalapuram Chennai.
We are together working on relief efforts in Chennai, Cuddalore and Pondicherry, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari.
The relief work is planned in 3 phases:
(1) Immediate Relief - food, clothing, blankets, temporary shelter, medicines and health camps for emergencies and epidemics
(2) Second Level Relief - Construction of huts and houses and health needs
(3) Third Level Relief - Livelihood needs for the families affected - forming cooperatives and providing livelihood support like boats, nets etc.
Right now all our focus in on the first phase.
In Chennai - we have divided ourselves into 3 teams:
1. Collection and Information Team: This team will handle calls, receive donations of money, clothes, medicines, blankets and vessels and send receipts, give information on the current status of relief work. This team will also give out press releases, send out email reports and call for further donations based on the needs. This is the team that people from outside must contact.
The people to contact:
Bharati/Manohar/Hari (AID office - 044-28350403),Ravishankar (IIT Prof) (94440-84910),Chandra Anil (9382330752, 044-28350403)Smitha, Kalyani (98401-73800)Vibha Ravindran (98402-63275)Balaji Sampath (94440-61033, 28350403(O))(I - Balaji - may not be available for the next 4 days as Iam going toNagai and Cuddalore to help with the field coordination.)
2. Allocation and Distribution: This team will get the needs from various field locations, sort the materials collected,divide it up for different locations based on the need and send it to the field coordinators for distribution.
3. Field Team: In each area we have a team of volunteers who will be coordinating the relief efforts and distribution ofmaterials.
In Chennai we have started the relief work in 5 areas: Pattinampakkam (Foreshore Estate) Tiruvanmiyur Olcott Kuppam Kottivakkam Royapuram
In each area we have allocated 2 people to coordinate with the distribution. These 2 people are taking down names of people, family survey, needs survey and what is being distributed. The idea is that this individual rapport that is built will be useful in working with the people over the next few months - ensuring rehabilitation and livelihood as well. Every day as the collections are being done, the field coordinators will go to the relief camps to provide the people with what they need.
This is the plan everywhere - we work with a community, get a rapport during the initial relief phase and then work with them on the house constructions and livelihood rehab phase.
In Nagapattinam district - which is the worst hit in Tamilnadu - we have 3 organizations on the field working: Tamilnadu Science Forum, Vidyarambam and DYFI. We are also trying to get other orgns and the dist administration into a joint coordination effort. Many of our volunteers of who are from fishing villages have died and so have many of the children studying in the support centers. Ranganathan from Vidyarambam left yesterday from Chennai with a van load of clothes and relief materials. Locally DYFI and TNSF have collected some materials and started the distribution. We have sent them some immediate funds and I will be taking more funds and relief materials with me today.
In Cuddalore district - we have TNSF, PSF and DYFI working together. A cholera epidemic seems to be starting in both Cuddalore and Nagai - we are sending out preventive information pamphlets and are also taking medicines for the people there. Senthil Babu has gone there yesterday.
In Kanyakumari - MALAR is coordinating the relief efforts. Many of the villages where they are working have been washed away. We have sent Rs.30,000 yesterday and will be sending more.
I am leaving in a truck with Charles, Damu and Jagdish - with the relief materials collected here today. Will be leaving from AID office by about 5:00 pm. I will first go to Pondicherry and then to Cuddalore There we will meet with the local TNSF and DYFI and other teams to plan the relief rehab work for the next 1-2 weeks. Damu will stay there to continue helping with the work there as well as to keeping giving the collection/allocation teams in Chennai info about what is going on and what are the current needs.
Then the truck will go to Nagai and meet with the teams there - to plan out a joint relief coordination and also plan for the long term rehab work needed. Charles and Jagdish will stay there for at least a week or ten days and work with the teams there - and also send us back information about what is happening.
AID Bangalore volunteers have collected funds and a truck load of relief materials - they will be coming to Nagai and Cuddalore directly today.
What we need in terms of collections:
1. Money - lots of it - for buying quick relief materials as well as for the long term. There are many people contributing and wanting to contribute. Please collect it from people and send it to the AID office: Cheques can be made in the name of AID-India and sent to:
AID-India
Old No 132, New No 242,Avvai Shanmugam Road
Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600 086
(In the US - collections are being done by AID-US - you can contact 1-888-TALK-2-AID or 301-209-0508 for more details. Vibha is also doing collections for this.)
2. Clothes - particularly blankets
3. Food - rice, wheat and dal - as grains for cooking and using over the next one week.
4. Medicines (antibiotics, ORS, bandages, cotton, etc - basic first aid).
5. Doctors - people willing to stay in Nagai and Cuddalore and treat people in health camps.
6. Vessels
For the second and third phase we are planning on community groups and cooperatives that will jointly construct housing and buy boats, etc.
The total immediate relief budget (from my initial estimate) is about Rs.20 Lakhs. This may go up to about Rs.40 Lakhs. (This is what we need - ourselves and the other NGOs and community groups that we are working apart from what the government is providing.)
The long term relief budget needed is more than a few crores - but whatever we can get we can make use of. One boat for 50 people costs about Rs. 1 Lakh. We will need about 10 boats for each community and will be working with about 100 communities - a total of about Rs. 10 crores. Housing will cost about Rs. 50,000. There are more than 50,000 people who need this help. You can calculate the total budget required! We will of course also use the government relief support and try to reach to the most needy. But in spite of government funds, there will be a lot of need for rehab support that we will need directly as well.
Please use the information above to raise funds and collect the materials and to send out appeals. You can also draft short proposals to submit to your companies and other groups that may be able to give grants for the above purposes.
There has so far been a great response from all our volunteers and a lot of individuals from everywhere are contacting us with offer for help. People from Bangalore, villages in Vembakkam and Banavaram, Colleges in Chennai (Stella, Ethiraj, IIT, etc), volunteers in the US, Software professionals, people from slums in Chennai, people living in flats, people from different NGOs, individuals, etc. But the scale of the problem is so much that we will need all the help we can get.
We will keep you updated with the information from the field regularly. Thanks a lot for all your help. If you need more specific info please contact:
Ravishankar - ravia@alumni.cmu.edu94440-84910, 28350403
Chandra - chanvish@yahoo.com9382330752, 044-28350403
Smitha Kalyani - smithakalyani@yahoo.com98401-73800
Vibha - vibha_ravindran@rediffmail.com98402-63275
Balaji (me - after 4-5 days) - balaji_sampath@hotmail.com 94440-61033
Kalpana - kalpa@vsnl.com 044-28361033
Bye,
Balaji Sampath
