We want our livelihood back
Tonight we had our briefing with United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Asia staff: The Rev. Dr. Chandran Paul Martin, Executive Secretary (UELCI); Ms. Vidhya Rani, Secretary, Women's Desk; Dr. K.M. Shyam Prasad, Director National Lutheran Health and Medical Board and Chancellor, Lutheran University; Dr. William Stanley, Director Integrated Rural Development; and others. Joe Chu and I videotaped interviews with Chandran and Vidhya.
Rafael read letters from Bishop Mark Hanson, acknowleging the long journey to recovery ahead and promising that the ELCA "will walk with you."
Chandran Paul Martin gave a powerful presentation (we have the powerpoint on disk). "Dignity after Disaster" is key. For example, the churches responded immediately and appropriately with cooked food. "After about a week the cooked food wasn't appreciated. They wanted to cook their own. So, the church provided dry rations (rice, Dhal, oil) and cooking utensils. We saw bags of pots ready to go this morning. The families do not want the cast off clothes of others or the inedible rice of the government subsidy. They want their livelihood back."
Speaking of livelihood, everyone David and I talked to this morning talked about the three month government ban on fishing. There is no such thing. "Eat fish!" we were told at the briefing. It does no good for boats and nets to be restored if there is no market for fish. People are afraid to eat fish from an ocean that swallowed up so many bodies.
Dream: to restore five complete coastal villages -- with livelihood.
The disaster only exacerbated the tensions between fisherfolk (upper caste) and Dalit (lower caste). Eighty percent of Lutherans are Dalit. Dalits need food and employment security. Fisherfolk need boats, nets, and psychosocial counseling. A HUGE problem for everyone: access to safe drinking water. "Summer is just two months away." Salt has destroyed many existing wells.
They refer to the disaster as "26/12," acknowledging the power of the name "9/11." (In India the day is referred to before the month.)
It's hoped that the Lutheran churches of the UELCI, in cooperation with ACT, LWR, and CASA, will respond to 3500 families.
The UELCI is "a Communion of [11] Churches in the Midst of Struggles." The struggles: poverty, injustice, gender inequity, and Dalit oppression.
Our hotel in Chennai is the resting stop for many people here to help. I waited for a man with the YMCA to complete his turn at the computer. He returned from Pondicherry, one of the places we will visit in the next three days in the field. "It's unbelievable," he said. "Utter devastation." Now, a man from a Dutch NGO connected to Oxfam waits for me.
Good night. We leave at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Will return back to this hotel in three days. Sue
Rafael read letters from Bishop Mark Hanson, acknowleging the long journey to recovery ahead and promising that the ELCA "will walk with you."
Chandran Paul Martin gave a powerful presentation (we have the powerpoint on disk). "Dignity after Disaster" is key. For example, the churches responded immediately and appropriately with cooked food. "After about a week the cooked food wasn't appreciated. They wanted to cook their own. So, the church provided dry rations (rice, Dhal, oil) and cooking utensils. We saw bags of pots ready to go this morning. The families do not want the cast off clothes of others or the inedible rice of the government subsidy. They want their livelihood back."
Speaking of livelihood, everyone David and I talked to this morning talked about the three month government ban on fishing. There is no such thing. "Eat fish!" we were told at the briefing. It does no good for boats and nets to be restored if there is no market for fish. People are afraid to eat fish from an ocean that swallowed up so many bodies.
Dream: to restore five complete coastal villages -- with livelihood.
The disaster only exacerbated the tensions between fisherfolk (upper caste) and Dalit (lower caste). Eighty percent of Lutherans are Dalit. Dalits need food and employment security. Fisherfolk need boats, nets, and psychosocial counseling. A HUGE problem for everyone: access to safe drinking water. "Summer is just two months away." Salt has destroyed many existing wells.
They refer to the disaster as "26/12," acknowledging the power of the name "9/11." (In India the day is referred to before the month.)
It's hoped that the Lutheran churches of the UELCI, in cooperation with ACT, LWR, and CASA, will respond to 3500 families.
The UELCI is "a Communion of [11] Churches in the Midst of Struggles." The struggles: poverty, injustice, gender inequity, and Dalit oppression.
Our hotel in Chennai is the resting stop for many people here to help. I waited for a man with the YMCA to complete his turn at the computer. He returned from Pondicherry, one of the places we will visit in the next three days in the field. "It's unbelievable," he said. "Utter devastation." Now, a man from a Dutch NGO connected to Oxfam waits for me.
Good night. We leave at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Will return back to this hotel in three days. Sue
posted by Sue-s | 10:30 PM
