Relief

Relief work
Jambudvipa along with local partners were early members to act for relief work. The work was carried out in Three Phases, with the initial survey so that appropriate help be provided to affected.
The survey team came across suffering of all kinds. People had lost their homes. People were badly injured, people had lost dear ones, they had to live in the worst of conditions (during this survey the team itself was continually overwhelmed by the stench of decomposing bodies) and to add insult to injury they felt they were being ignored and discriminated against at this of all times.
Despite shortage of manpower and inexperience our team could manage much crucial relief work themselves. A relief camp and communication center was set up in the garden around the statue of Dr. Ambedkar  in Madhapur just outside Bhuj. From here tents and family kits (Consisting of basic food and household items) were distribute to about 23,000 families especially to the Scheduled Castes and other minorities who are often ignored and sidelined in such situations.
Relief Work
Phase One
5,000 liter water storage tanks were provided and water tankers sent a number of localities.
502 tents and 502 household kits were made up in a Ahmedabad and sent them
down to Bhuj where they were distributed top eleven villages.
The Family kits distributed in this phase consisted of the following items:
1.    a larg plastic bucket,
2.    a plasic jug
3.    a larg durrie – carpet mat for sleeping on
4.    a larg double blanket
5.    2 towels
6.    bathing soap
7.    cloth washing soap
8.    basic spices chili, coriander, haldi, harlic
9.    1 kg oil
10.    1 kg sugar
11.    1 kg salt
12.    pan for cooking chapattis
13.    chapatti roller and board
14.    kerosene cooking stove
15.    comb
16.    coconut oil for hair
17.    tea
18.    5 kg chapatti flour (attar)
19.    1 kg mungdal
20.    sweets for the children.
21.    tooth powder
Rs. 600,000 was passed onto SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) who have an excellent reputation in Gujarat. 40% of their members are from the Scheduled Cases communities and others are from other socially disadvantaged communities. SEWA spent this mainly on durries (carpets for sleeping on) as they felt this was one of the greatest needs in the areas they were working.
Phase Two
One month after the earthquake it seemed that many people had not been approached by the Government or the NGOs. Another survey was conducted by our team. Tents were still a priority but the family kits were modified. In this phase 600 tents and 1,000 family kits were distributed to fourteen villages.
The family Kits distributed in this phase consisted of the following nine items:
1.    Mungdal,
2.    5kg atta,
3.    1kg Cooking Oil,
4.    Chili powder,
5.    Coriander,
6.    Haldi Powder,
7.    Salt,
8.    Garum Masala,
9.    Tooth powder.
Phase Three
For the last phase our relief team moved to Surendranager District, another area which had suffered enormous damage. Here the greatest need was for plastic sheets and the most basic of food stuffs. 2500 plastic sheets and 1,000 family kits consisting of just two items, were distributed to twenty four villages.
The family Kits in this phase consisted of 5 kg atta and 1 kg oil.
Long term rehabilitation work
The relief work took place from 7th February until about 28th March. We are now beginning long-term rehabilitation work. We are starting two hostels one for 80 boys, and one for 80 girls, both in the earthquake area. The children attended local schools whilst the hostels provide accommodation, nutritious food, support in their studies and psychologically nourishing support from the wardens and staff. We have decided to concentrate on hostel as it is the education of the affected children that suffers first in any calamity. And we have a lot of experience in running hostels.
Once this work is established we have other ideas such as helping local artisans develop and market their skills. We are also planning a meditation center in Surendranager District to help with psychological rehabilitation.
Finance
This work was new to us. Besides the cost of the actual materials we had expenses in collecting transporting and distributing them, conducting the survey, setting up and running a communications center, travel and food expenses for our team of volunteers, as well as many others.

3 comments:

  1. Can we come and visit the ashram .....and can we done some clothes for the girls

    ReplyDelete