Kovalam village buzzes with a heady mix of incense, flowers and excitement as the first bricks are laid for the foundations of its new homes.
Dignitaries and donors deliver their greetings to the expectant throng dotted with brightly coloured saris. Village leaders respond with gratitude.
The people of Kovalam village gather to celebrate the new building project. Photo: Eficor.
Then it is the villagers’ turn to speak. They are looking to the future now, excited about the prospect of seeing their village transformed. But the future makes no sense without mentioning the reason for this ceremony today.
And as they recall the tsunami’s vast waves that tore through India’s Kanyakumari district, sweeping away their old life, the tears flow freely.
Pulling together
Villages like Kovalam have spent months in temporary shelter, in limbo.
The need to rehouse people is pressing in some districts of Tamil Nadu such as Chennai and Nagapattinam where torrential rains in late-October brought serious flooding. And the need for quality stable housing was underlined again by October 8’s South Asia earthquake affecting Pakistan and India.
Tearfund’s partners in southern India – Eficor, Discipleship Centre and the Salvation Army – have been working hard to repair damaged housing, often reinforcing properties to make them stronger than before. And now that the Indian government is allocating land for permanent housing, outside a coastal buffer zone, reconstruction work is gathering pace.
Tearfund partners are now building permanent homes in Kanyakumari, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts. In some areas, buildings are nearing completion: in others, where the government is still trying to identify land, progress is slower.
The people of Vellakoil are keen for the story of a deaf-mute woman (left) to be included in their tsunami history: she saved her baby but lost her six-year-old son. Photo: Rachel Stevens/Tearfund
The prospect of a new home means everything to people like Amirthavalli and Harichandran from Vellakoil, Nagapattinam.
The tsunami claimed four of their seven children as they fled the black waves with their young mother. Harichandran, who was fishing out at sea when the tsunami hit, rushed ashore to find his home and half his family had disappeared.
While they’ve been waiting to be rehoused, the couple have been involved in Eficor’s cash-for-work project clearing debris – which has proved a vital part of their recovery.
‘The family was not able to share with others – as others were undergoing the same trauma,’ says Eficor. ‘By making them interact with their fellow workers, the programme helped them to come out of their personal tragedy and rebuild their lives.’
One plus one
There’s been a strong emphasis on survivors pulling together to remould themselves into communities.
In Kuttiyandiyur, Nagapattinam, villagers have worked with Eficor to clear away thorn bushes in which many women and children became entangled and died during the tsunami.
A similar scheme has helped villagers in Vellipalayam in the same district clear irrigation channels so they can resume farming.
Nagapattinam district: irrigation channels are being dug so villager can resume farming. Photo: Eficor.
And individuals are being helped out of their trauma and back into work. Abdul Wahid, who’s disabled, is now selling ground-nuts in Kanyakumari, thanks to a four-wheel trolley from Eficor. Napoleon, a young painter from Nagapattinam, has been given brushes, paints and his first commission since the tsunami: painting a new sign for his village.
New resilience
For some, talk of security, stability and permanence is something new.
The people of Pethankuppam in Cuddalore have lived beside the river they fish for generations and seen flooding almost every year. Seawater in the river makes fishing impossible for several months a year.
Then the tsunami hit. Many of their thatched homes were swept away by waves surging 4km up river. Yet Pethankuppam risked being excluded from the aid effort because it was not coastal and not on the official list of tsunami-affected communities. This is a poor dalit community – one which falls outside India’s caste system and one which is prone to being marginalised.
The entrance to a temporary housing complex in Cuddalore. Photo: Eficor.
As well as working on new homes away from the flood plain, Tearfund’s partner Discipleship Centre has provided 21 wooden catamarans for Pethankuppam, shared between 63 families on a rota system.
Villagers have worked together to build a new road and everyone now has access to separate bathing areas. There is also now a community fund to which everyone contributes and a development committee which decides where the money will be spent.
Rachel Stevens of Tearfund’s Tsunami Taskforce visited Pethankuppam as villagers prepared for their first fishing trip in the new catamarans.
‘We were greeted just outside the village by a village band and fire crackers, and there was such excitement,’ says Rachel. ‘A dalit community like this could easily be overlooked so our partners are working to help them cope in the longer term and become stronger, more resilient communities.’
Firm base
Tearfund predicts that it will be December 2006 before all India’s tsunami survivors are rehoused.
The new homes in places like Kovalam are being built carefully, with sound construction and a strong sense of community spirit. Villagers will wait until all the houses are completed and then everyone will move in at the same time. ‘That way everyone starts on an equal footing,’ says Rachel.
There is much work still to do in India – but the future is being built on firm foundations.