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Countess Albina distributes tsunami relief

Special Correspondent

Rs. 40 lakhs worth of materials were given in the village

Pondicherry: Countess Albina du Boisrouvray, founder and president of the `Association Francois Xavier Bagnoud' (AFXB), a voluntary organisation based in Geneva, on Saturday distributed relief materials here. On a visit to the tsunami hit villages in Pondicherry, she launched projects for empowerment of women, educational advancement of the youth in the tsunami-hit fishermen families and provided bicycles to girls to enable them to reach their educational institutions without difficulty as part of a package of measures of the organisation for speedy restoration of normal life in the villages.

Addressing a press conference in the course of her visit to the villages of Kanagachettykulam, Pillaichavady, Sinna Kalapet and Periya Kalapet (all tsunami hit hamlets of fishermen) in Lawspet block near here the Countess said that her visit was a `step forward in supporting the people affected by natural calamities of highest proportions.'

She said that as much as Rs. 40 lakhs worth of materials and also projects for empowerment of women were launched in these villages.

Gymnasium

After interacting with the local people in the villages she also inaugurated in Kanagachettykulam gymnasium centres, distributed scholarship documents to 30 youth in the tsunami-hit hamlets to enable them to do courses in Industrial Training Institutes, bicycles to 54 school and college going girls, anchors and ropes to 220 people in the fishermen hamlets, ice boxes for 200 fisherwomen, introduced programmes for skills development and other utility programmes.

Solidarity

Stating that she could see a sense of solidarity prevailing among the people in the villages, Countess Albina said that the AFXB through the FXB (Francois Xavier Bagnoud) India Society has been implementing several projects in all the States and Union Territories in India and it has expanded its activities for the last 13 years or so.

Her organisation had been involved in various intervention and advocacy programmes.

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