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`Sir, we are not beggars'
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People don't need charity and old clothes; they need help getting back to their lives and livelihood, say four boys just back from Cuddalore
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"PLEASE DON'T send clothes any more," say four boys who have just returned from volunteering with relief operations in Cuddalore. "They are just lying around in heaps and people don't need clothes; they need to get back to their lives."
Reading about the death and destruction the killer tsunami left in its wake, these four boys, J.S. Amoghavarsha, Tejus Tatachar, G. Ananthraj and K.M. Aprameya, were part of a nine-member student team culled from colleges in the city. The students decided to collect supplies and head to affected areas to make sure their contributions actually reached the victims. Under the aegis of the church-based NGO Somanahalli Foundation and with a superhuman effort from friend Debolina Das they set off in private transport, accompanying their relief truck.
Media hype
With much of the media focussing on the worst hit areas, people are not being given a sense of other more remote areas, say the boys. "We decided not to go to Nagapattinam because everyone is going there. We went to Cuddalore which doesn't even look like it's been hit; you won't find dead bodies strewn around, but near the beach you can see five rows of houses have been entirely washed away and 20-men boats lying upturned."
With most of the relief work concentrated in the worst hit areas, many interior areas are being neglected. Individual relief workers wanting to do good show up with clothes and biscuit packets: "We saw some cars driving along the beach throwing out biscuit packets, but how long can you feed fish-eating people biscuits?" asks Amogh.
Initial relief dumped all sorts of clothes which had not even been segregated, says Tejus, pointing out that now "immediate relief has been taken care of, people want to get back to their lives". Too much relief material being handed out has led to much confusion with many of the same people jumping and grabbing at them; while the shy or the proud ones don't get any at all.
Not poor people
"It's not as if these people couldn't afford it, it's just like... if you lost your house how would you be? You wouldn't want to take charity," says Amogh. "Many of them earned well before the tsunami hit. One man said to us `Sir, we are not beggars'. No one took from us unless they were sure we wanted to give them."
They don't need handouts the boys emphasise; they need long-term rehabilitation. Boats and trawlers have been destroyed, taking away their only livelihood and now, more than immediate relief, they need money to repair boats or build new ones.
The boys are all praise for the District Collector of Cuddalore who they say has been zealous in his efforts to battle disease, clear bodies, and begin rehabilitation work, "We don't know how it is elsewhere, but in Cuddalore, as far as we know, the Government has been pretty efficient," says Amogh.
Back to the sea
Although people are keen to get back to sea, which gives them the only livelihood they know, "there is a lingering fear and they are looking at literate people to give them signals to go back," says Tejus. Every evening, people rush back from the beach into the towns, to sleep under the protection of temples or in marriage halls, away from the sea.
Another team of students leaves soon after their exams to conduct a recce and plan for the next load of material. "We are collecting money and organising efforts to adopt villages," says Ananth. A system is soon to swing into place wherein every family gets tokens they can exchange for supplies, preventing a manic and humiliating grab for relief material from trucks. "This way everyone is entitled, and the same people won't always get it," explains Amogh.
For people in Bangalore wanting to help, stop sending clothes, say the boys. "People need help beyond this month of media attention. Villages need to be adopted, boats need to be built. This process will take at least between six months to a year," they say. Bangalore shouldn't forget the destruction caused by the tsunami when the TV cameras turn away.
H.G.
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