Dear CRY Friend,

Like the rest of the world, CRY, our NGO partners and the communities we work with in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are reeling from the impact of the tsunami (December 26, 2004) and its after-effects.

3 CRY project areas in Tamil Nadu have been directly affected. These are Centre for Human Empowerment through Education Related Services (CHEERS) at Therasapuram in Tuticorin District, Community Services Guild (CSG) at Devanampattinam and Singarathoppu in Cuddalore and Association for Integrated Rural Development (AIRD) at Valinokkam and Mugaiyur in Ramnad District. In Devanampattinam and Singarathoppu 48% of the casualties are children.


 Projects CRY supports that are not themselves affected but work in affected areas are: Pasumai Trust in Kalpakkam, Anawim in Veerapandiya Pattinam and Senthilveedhi and DBA in Nagapattinam

Other CRY supported NGOs and our fellow-members of the Tamil Nadu Alliance for the Fundamental Right to Education (TAFRE) will be covering the areas from Pulicat to Thiruvottiyur, Thiruvottiyur to Washermanpet, Rajakadai to Ennore, Marina to Kovalam, Kovalam to Mahabalipuram and Mahabalipuram to Marakkanam in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Villupuram districts of coastal Tamilnadu as part of the Chennai Relief Committee network.

CRY is re-directing some funds to these to meet immediate relief work needs in these project areas. Immediate needs (temporary shelters, blankets, buckets, lanterns, kerosene, clothing, utensils, biscuits, milk, rice, oil and daal) for the 4300 families we expect to cover immediately are estimated to require just over Rs. 1.06 crores.

Based on what our teams on the ground in AP and TN are reporting now, the situation is still fairly chaotic in terms of lack of co-ordination, duplication of effort and vast uncovered areas.

Here's a first-hand account from one of the CRY teams near Chennai:

"All we could see for miles was a sea of people, people sitting on pavements, with little children huddling close to them, family members looking for lost relatives, hungry kids sitting on parapets gobbling food that was distributed in plastic covers and banana leaves by both, the Chennai Corporation and voluntary organizations.

The fire service and the police who also hung around in large numbers were trying their best to keep people away from the sea  but it was a wasted effort. No one could stop curious onlookers from pouring in through the little gaps that they found between the medians that blocked their ways, as they came in thousands.

After a certain point we could not even distinguish between affected families and inquisitive onlookers as there were an equal number of both groups, if not more of the latter.

On both sides of the roads that led to the sea, voluntary organizations had stationed their vans. There was total chaos at the distribution centers and at places where NGOs were giving food packets and distributing old clothes. People rushed in frenzy wherever they found these groups giving things away.

Each voluntary organization was doing whatever they could and whatever they felt was the need of the hour as the police stood watching helplessly. An old lady needing medical help was being offered food packets instead.

Many gravitated to the nearest shelter, whatever that may be - school, hospital, religious institution, railway station - carrying whatever they had been able to salvage with them in plastic bags, broken crates, cardboard cartons and old trunks. Others, disregarding warnings are refusing to leave their habitations fearing the little the waves didn't sweep away will be looted if they leave. Fishing communities have lost everything - their homes, their belongings, their nets, their boats. Many are too traumatized to be able to go anywhere near the ocean, their source of livelihood.

Some of the people we spoke to responded with resentment, anger and fury. We were told that dead bodies were still floating all over the 'koovam' (that's close to sea), but the police weren't doing much to pull them out. "

It sounds depressingly similar to the situation we encountered after the Gujarat earthquake a few years ago. Floods of material and well-meaning volunteers with no channels to direct them to the people and areas that most needed them. As in Gujarat, CRY is fortunate to have trusted, long-term partner NGOs familiar with local conditions and communities who are well placed to respond immediately to crises.

To ensure better planning, coordination and accountability this time around, CRY has joined a group of NGOs including Action Aid, Oxfam, CCF, CARE, UNICEF and Save the Children. Any resources we raise will be channelised through this group where each NGO will focus on its areas of strength - geographically and capacity-wise. CRY's own emphasis will, as always be on children, the most underserved communities and on long-term rehabilitation, not just immediate relief.

Not all the news is grim. On December 29, 4000 fishermen returned to Cuddalore after spending 4 days in deep waters away from the killer waves. Women's self-help groups (SHGs) in Salem and Namakkal have mobilized themselves to deliver relief.

As in Gujarat, the real challenges will set in once the rescue and relief efforts have ended, the relief agencies have left and the media has moved on. Preventing malnutrition, disease, and trafficking, offering trauma counseling and rehabilitating livelihoods will be our focus.

One further consequence we faced in the aftermath of the Orissa cyclone, the Kargil conflict and the Gujarat earthquake was a massive funds crunch for our regular on-going programmes across the country. In the outpouring of public grief and sympathy we all feel for victims of a disaster - natural or man-made - it is all too easy to overlook those who confront similar threats on a daily basis. I'd like to urge you to not forget to continue to support the causes and organizations you care about.

With faith and goodwill,

Ingrid Srinath
Chief Executive CRY