wfn.org | [ENS] Listening: Church of South India committed to long-term tsunami

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Episcopal News Service
Listening, Learning & Epiphany

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Listening: Church of South India committed to long-term tsunami relief

[ENS] The Church of South India (CSI), one of the four united churches
in
the Anglican Communion and an Episcopal Relief and Development partner
in
Asia, has been at the forefront of helping communities that have been
impacted by the December 26, 2004, tsunami.

In an interview with Episcopal News Service, David Prabahar, CSI relief
coordinator, described some of the progress that has been made during
the
past year and explained how the church will be involved in the long-term
relief efforts.

ENS: What was the church's initial response to the tsunami?

PRABAHAR: The immediate relief was provided by the Church of South India
in
Kanyakumari, Trichy-Tanjore, Madras and Krishna-Godavari dioceses. These
were the worst affected dioceses. Initially, we provided temporary
shelters
and camps that benefited approximately 40,000 people. In most of these
camps, food, clothing, shelter and special food for infants were
provided.
Many individuals were also involved in temporary relief units.

With a view to promoting livelihood programs, long-term initiatives were
started by the Church. Since some affected areas were taken care of by
other
agencies and NGOs, it was necessary to assess the real needs of the
affected
communities.

As a first step, a needs assessment survey was organized. Students,
women
volunteers and self-help group members were involved in the survey.

While planning for long-term needs, factors that were considered
included
sustainability of the program, involvement of the local community and
networking with Church-related departments.

The needs assessment survey has enabled us to plan programs that focus
on
fishing needs, housing needs, livelihood recovery, psychosocial needs,
child
care/orphan care, health care, and disaster preparedness training

ENS: What progress has been made this year and what are some of the
priorities right now in meeting the needs of those most affected?

PRABAHAR: The Village Co-ordination Forum (VCF) is the organization of
the
local affected community at the village level. In Kanyakumari diocesan
area,
three worst villages which were affected were considered for our
programs:
Maramadi, Kotilpadu and Colachel.

Self-management and local leadership were promoted among the members of
the
forum. To implement this process successfully, the VCF has 20 self-help
groups with 20 members each.

Fishing equipment like boats, nets and other necessary things were
distributed through these forums.

The women members of the self-help groups have joined together to start
new
businesses.

Here are few examples:

1. Dry Fish Unit

During the needs assessment survey, the women highlighted the
difficulties
from drying fish in the sun, which often results in huge loss due to
sudden
rains. The community was incurring huge loss, spoilage and wastage.
Secondly, it was not hygienic to dry on the sea sand. Bearing this in
mind,
the team created the dry fish unit. At least 25 women are getting wages
in
this unit, which is run by a fabricated plant operated by electricity
with
humidity control and incorporated heating.

While there is great local demand for this processed dry fish, we are
planning to promote the sale at the state level. The strategies are to
improve the quality control standards. In India, MFPO (Meat and Food
Products Order) is the prevailing quality control standard to be adopted
to
enhance the value addition. With MFPO, a product could be sold at big
shopping malls, supermarkets and department stores.

2. Marine Engineering Course

There are quite a large number of school dropouts in the community. In
association with the diocese run ITI (Industrial Training Institutes), a
course has been designed on marine engineering. The purpose is to
service,
repair and rebuild boat engines of the fisherfolk. In a batch, around 15
boys would be trained within a period of 6 months. The center would have
components like servicing and training. Through services of engines,
income
would be generated to make the program sustainable in the long run.

3. Other Initiatives

Towards providing livelihood recovery needs, small funds are made
available
to the community for petty trades among women, like fish vending, petty
shops, saree sales, vegetable vending, etc. Business development funds
are
provided to individuals or groups in the community for businesses such
as
pineapple processing, paper cup making, carpentry, embroidery and lace
making.

ENS: How will the church be involved in the long-term recovery and
development?

PRABAHAR: The community is equipped and capacitated with a few economic
empowerment programs. Trainings and need-based IGP (Income Generation
Programs) will be organized. The Church, along with its ongoing
development
programs which exist within the marginal communities, would extend the
same
to the coastal poor.

Community health care is vital and still there is need for malaria
control,
health and hygiene, RCH and pediatric care. To achieve this, networking
would be done with diocesan/mission hospitals of the Church of South
India
and Primary Health Centers of the State.

Livelihood skill training programs are planned for the tsunami affected
areas. One such program is embroidery and lace making. The instructors
from
the diocese\Church of South India projects would train the community.

Other long-term needs involve local disaster preparedness and capacity
building, trauma counseling and psychosocial care.

ENS: How does the micro-enterprise program work?

PRABAHAR: All the existing development projects of the churches in all
the
four states have inbuilt program components on credit and savings. There
are
a considerable number of self-help groups that operate within the
project.
They mobilize savings, disburse loans and revolve funds within their
group
members.

The SBU (Saving Build up) is considered as the criteria for sanctioning
credit. In the communities where the VCF has been implemented, the
members
of the VCF have credit and savings operating within their groups. In
many
such places, the people live in temporary shelters. They save money from
fishing income. We have promoted many SHGs and organized savings with
revolving funds.

Since the church has sound practices and expertise, it is high time to
enter
into an organized micro finance program at the Head Office level in
Chennai.

With this view, an evaluation of the existing program has been done by
Mr.
Rajan Samuel, an expert at the international level and consultant. Based
on
his recommendations and some findings, a three tier future program on
micro
enterprise will be soon setup.

ENS: What were your impressions of the ERD tsunami partnership
consultation
(held November 28 - December 2 in Bangkok)?

PRABAHAR: It was really useful and was an opportunity to share many of
our
experiences and listen to one another's achievements. This has immensely
helped us to plan for the future interventions in a more effective and
dynamic manner.

We really welcome the suggestions to have similar consultations and
deliberations in future. The group discussions were interesting,
especially
with regard to representatives from Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and
also
Andamans and Nicobar of the Church of North India. We are grateful for
Abagail Nelson (ERD vice president) and Julie Petrie (ERD program
associate)
for their contributions. I appreciate the leadership, excellent
co-ordination and meticulous planning of Kirsten Laursen (ERD's senior
program director for Asia and new initiatives. We thank the almighty
Lord
for his guidance and help.

- - - - -

To support families devastated by the earthquake and tsunamis in South
Asia,
donate to the South Asia Relief Fund at www.er-d.org or call
1-800-334-7626,
ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and Development,
South
Asia Relief Fund, PO Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101.

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