December 21, 2007

THIRUMULLAIVASAL,Tamil Nadu, India/GENEVA – The memory is still very painful to me, G. Raju recounts in a faltering vice. Yet, there was nothing he could do. The flood waves were six or seven meters high and he could not reach his house and his family. He still vividly remembers the horrible scenes of devastation the tsunami left in its wake three years ago as it swept through his coastal village in southern India.

On the morning of 26 December 2004, the now 45-year-old fisherman was sitting in a teashop in Thirumullaivasal in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. When he saw the gigantic waves suddenly crashing in, he managed to quickly flee to safety. What was particularly uncanny was that the tidal wave had raised the level of rivers and backwaters by several meters, so that the flood engulfed the village from the inland side. While he was desperately helping others to reach safety, he was unable to reach his home to rescue his family.

Shortly thereafter, he learned that his two daughters had managed to escape. But his wife and elderly father were not as fortunate. They were in the house and did not see the floodwaters coming. G. Raju lost his wife and his father, and their tiny house was totally destroyed.

For five months after the flood, G. Raju and his daughters continued to live in what was left of their house. A temporary shelter was only made available later on. Even the boat he used for backwater fishing was destroyed.

Now, three years after the disaster, which in India alone cost 16,000 lives and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, G. Raju's situation has changed considerably for the better. A smile creeps onto his face as he takes Jiva by the hand, to whom he has been married for one year, and offers a tour of his new home.

New Home, New-Found Happiness

Yes, he is happy again, G. Raju said as he put his arms around his eight-year old daughter Mageswari and her ten-year old sister Rajeswari. The memory is still painful, but he has found new happiness. He has a new wife and a new house. He could never have afforded such a beautiful, solid house before, he added.

His house is part of a new residential area which comprises 350 individual homes and shared facilities which the Lutheran World Service India (LWSI), a country program of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS), with support from the worldwide network of churches and partner organizations such as Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, built on the outskirts of Thirumullaivasal.

Something remarkable has come about with this project, reports Debesh Bhuyan, LWSI tsunami projects' coordinator since November 2006. Despite strong opposition at the outset, the families of ocean and inland fishermen and Dalits – formerly know as "untouchables" – as well as other members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, now live side-by-side. According to the 37-year old coordinator, LWSI placed great importance on avoiding any kind of discrimination, including the project's spatial design.

Property Rights

In addition to this project, which, in compliance with the Indian government directives, had to be built several hundred meters from the coastline, LWSI has also built 180 new houses within the village. This was a response to a needs' plan drawn up by the Indian government, whose go-ahead was required before any new houses could be built. New houses could only be built for families who already had property rights.

The land rights' criteria was a particularly great challenge for LWSI, especially with regard to the Dalits and other scheduled tribes, who, because of their low status in the Indian caste system, had no land rights to assert. The LWSI housin g project nonetheless succeeded in procuring houses for these groups and, consequently, land rights as well.

880 Sturdy Houses

The architecture of the 880 houses built in 13 villages in the state of Tamil Nadu by the LWSI in collaboration with ACT is based on a core design provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with the regional government of Tamil Nadu. All houses are sturdily built with locally produced bricks.

However, to ensure greater stability and better protection against cyclones, earthquakes and floods, the LWSI revised the architectural design. Hence, all houses were equipped with reinforced concrete floors and columns, and a sturdy outdoors stairway leads to a roof terrace.

Each house cost around USD 5,000, but the cost in three years has skyrocketed. Many regional suppliers have attempted to take advantage of the sudden increased demand. The price of cement and steel doubled in a very short time. Even after paying such exorbitant prices, the building materials were sometimes never delivered. The total cost of the LWSI tsunami project in Tamil Nadu as of December 2004 was USD 5.8 million.

A crucial component of LWSI strategy is the intensive involvement of all homeowners in the building process. Residents have taken full possession of their new houses even though they are located several hundred meters from the ocean and, hence, quite far from the original center of life. Fences and walls have sprung up around their houses and residents have installed storage sheds and outdoor cooking facilities, and begun growing fruits and vegetables for their daily needs in small gardens set up with LWSI assistance.

Surviving on Less Income

Suddenly, G. Raju remembered he had a family to take care of and it was time to go fishing. He and several other families share a fiberglass boat that together with motor, nets and equipment had been made available by a French relief organization. The 32,000 rupees (around USD 815) compensation he received from the Indian government for the loss of his boat and house only covered part of the cost. Every afternoon he goes with his boat to rivers and backwaters and returns home the following morning with his catch. Despite long hours spent on his boat, he can scarcely survive on what he brings in. The tsunami changed the ecological balance of the ocean and rivers. There are now fewer and different fish compared to before the flood.

Yet, while many of his neighbors complain, G. Raju is not losing hope. He is confident that his current daily earnings of 100 to 200 rupees (around USD 2.5-5) will soon improve and he will find alternative ways of increasing his household income. Disaster Control and Advocacy

In addition to building houses and new infrastructure, efforts focus on community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP), advocacy and the launching of income-generating projects, says Rina Chunder, head of information and documentation at LWSI. All village communities in which LWSI tsunami projects are implemented have received CBDP training. People will thus have the necessary knowledge for responding to emergency situations and dealing with injured persons, and know that hospitalization is necessary in cases of serious illnesses and injuries.

Since all activities are implemented through the respective local organizations and bodies, collaboration between local communities and the panchyats or village councils has been strengthened, leading to more stable village structures and a greater degree of co-determination. The program fosters an organic increase in autonomy, which, according to Chunder, implies building from within. The program seeks to assist and encourage people, rather than to look after them or cater to them.

Autonomous Local Organization in 2009

In 2009, after more than 30 years as an LWF/DWS country program, LWSI will become an autonomous local organization, and be categorized as an LWF associate program. The LWF/DWS India program was started in 1 974 in response to refugee needs after the Bangladesh war of independence. Within this program LWSI is implementing disaster response and integrated development projects in several states.

To learn more about the LWSI, go to the LWF web site at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DWS/Country_Programs/DWS-India.html.

To support LWF's work, please see the LWF online donation tool at: http://donations.lutheranworld.org/.

Lutheran World Information