|
 Tsunami
has left behind a trail of disaster and human misery. Thanks to the
swift efforts of several volunteers, religious bodies, NGOs, corporate
bodies and government. With the active support of the government
machinery a semblance has been brought about in the region.
Though nobody can compensate the loss of
life and the psychological trauma, the immediate needs for the survival
of the living and their long term needs in terms of psycho-social
support, housing livelihood support and creating community cohesiveness
could be rendered by the external players.
AID has its strong presence in Tamil Nadu in the districts of Salem,
Dharmapuri, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur district apart from its
operations in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal. Our
initial response to Tsunami was to immediately dispatch volunteers to
the affected regions and provide relief in the regions.
As with any other counterparts, we also
faced initial chaos and were undecided about our next steps as there was
utter confusion. There was over-pouring of relief and many players on
the field. It took near about a month to fully analyze the situation,
understand the complexities and to venture and plan ahead for the
regions.
Now AID has launched full-fledged rehabilitation and community recovery
initiatives in the Tsunami affected regions of Tamil Nadu. It is felt
that lot of under currents in the region exists and many a time these
are not projected in the mainstream media.
We are launching the
series of newsletters to bridge this gap. Bringing the grassroot news to
the mainstream is very important for the larger public to understand the
complexities at the ground level. In the forthcoming newsletters more
focus would be on the ground realities that exist in the region. |
