RF_DM-2_ANP-6_SUDHA.pdf
Media
- extracted text
-
SuDHfl
I
CATHOLIC i’HSSION RELIEF AND REHABILITATION .CENTRE
DIOCESE OF VIJAYAV'ADA
PROGRESS REPORT NO_. JTV
(upto 25th January, *78)
More than two months have elapsed since the unprecedented
catastrophe of the tidal wave and cyclone which hit coastal Andhra
on the night of 19th November, 1978. It can now be said that the
relief effort has assumed a functional and rational structure which
is able not only to direct its efforts and resources according to
real priorities and needs but also to reflect on itself and
evaluate and correct its activities according to the needs of the
day after nine weeks of relief work.
It has become abundantly clear that thanks to both the
natural resilience of the local population and the courage and
inspiration contributed by the volunteers, the victims are now
ready and willing to work out an effective programme for the re
construction of their shattered villages. The key-note therefore
of the efforts of the volunteers working- under this committee has
now definitely changed from "working for" to "working with" these
victims.
However, despite their determination ard willingness to work,
the people are obviously unable to carry out any reconstruction
programme if left to themselves: the tidal wave has destroyed
everything: house and home, reserves of food and health, clothes,
tools and all belongings. The people live from day to day. Even if
hope has returned, their reserves are destroyed. They cannot carry
out any re-construction for themselves unless supported from out
side in their effort and given the wherewithal for daily existence.
The relief effort therefore takes the shape not of relief
distribution but of support of those who spend their time and
energy in reconstructing the village.
Two months of relief effort have also been a strain on the
relief workers. One sees the efforts of some organisations which .
had done yeoman service in the early days of the tragedy, petering
out as volunteers are forced to return to their own avocations
and replacements are hard to find. This committee is fortunate to
be able to appeal effectively to a nation-wide net-work of
seminaries, convents, educational institutions, novitiates etc.
which is able to supply a steady stream of volunteers even over a
protracted period. Thanks to this support, the relief effort of
the three camps in this Diocese has not slackened but rather has
grown better organised and more effective.
The general structure of the relief organisation has not
changed: the Central Office at Vijayawada continues to maintain
and co-ordinate the three base camps at Avanigadda, Machilipatnam
2
and Nagayalanka while the field work at present is carried out by
volunteers resid^ing in nine small camps situated within the tidal
wave zone. While accounts, reporting and recruitment of volunteers
remain the responsibility of the Central Office at Vijayawada, the
procurement of relief supplies and camp reouirements is being
decentralised since goods are now more easily available near the
base camps, and the camps themselves are better organised and
capable of handling their own supplies.
Village Situation: The relief work in the villages has taken a
new dimension and greater emphasis is given in working WITH the
People and not FOR the People. The villagers too have been very
co-operative in clearing the debris. The recent "Sankranti”
festival (the festival of harvest) celebrated by the villagers also
symbolised in a way the return of 'Normalcy’ in these cyclone and
Tidal Wave affected villages. The people are very much willing to
work in re-building their homes, but they need a lot of encourage
ment and motivation. This has led to a new programme of "food for
work" being undertaken in various villages. As long as. "they are
given food for their work they are willing to undertake any work.
Many problems of Social Justice have cropped up for instance:,
in one village there was a problem of a landlord trying to occupy
the land of the ’Girijans’ whose huts were washed away from that
place, which obviously he wanted for cultivation pruposes. But our
volunteers working there managed to persuade the landlord to let
the Girijans occupy the land they had before.
The role of women volunteers and village women has also
stepped up. Before they were only engaged in medical work, but now
they are venturing into new areas like Small Savings, Anti-licuor
campaign, Small Scale Industries etc.
P^erationd: Great importance is still being given to clearing debris,
corpses and carcasses as these pose a great hazard to health,
since the stench and filth facilitate breeding of insects which
are the main carriers diseases and epidemics.
(a) Threshing of Paddy has been given top priority as it has
to be completed in time (within a forthnight) before the water
is let out into the canals. Various methods have been adopted to
help the farmers. We are supnlying wooden boards for threshing,
hiring tractors, (for which they have to>pay partly), and by
supporting the relatives of the villagers whose buffaloes they are
borrowing to help in the threshing since they have lost all their
cattle.
(b) Clearing the fields channels and canals has also
presented employment opportunities. Since the water is .to be let
out soon the need of clearing these waterways pose an urgent
■
3
neccesity. If they are not cleaned in time, the sides will be
breached and future irrigation will not be possible.
(c) Removal of Sand deposits from fields is also engaging many
in work. Huge heaps of sand have been deposited in the fields by
the tidal wave, rendering the fields useless for cultivation. All
these projects have been very effectively working under as part
of the relief programme.
The villagers have lost all their belongings in the recent
disaster, and in order to facilitate their return to normal living,
they need to have some tools and implements which would provide
them with the source of subsidiary income. We shall therefore heirthem to pruchase implements like pickaxes, spades etc. for
agriculture and tools for carpenters, masons etc. They are also
being.hdined to grow trees and vegetables, and. for this we are
providing them with saplings and seeds. Each family is also being
supplied with some hens to help them to start a poultry.
House construction work is being carried out on an increased
scale. In several villages house construction is almost complete.
Distribution of clothes and food is also being regurarly carried
out.
Our volunteefs arc also working in the Anti-liquor campaign
and have sucoessfuly cambatted recently a major problem. In cne
village a licenced liquor-vendor used to come and sell this nSnake
juice” and move around the village. This led to a lot of people
wasting their income on liquor beside ruining themselves and
destroying the peace of their homes. Our volunteers tried to stop
him but he brought in the police. However, not to be led down by
this, and with a spirit of love and justice, our volunteers
managed to get the women folk to sign a memorandum and submit it
to the district magistrate. Now the liquor vendor is permitted to
sell his drinks only inside an authorised licensed shop, and not
to move about in the villages. Thanks to the unwavering efforts of
our volunteers in mobilising the local people to fight this menace,
the problem has been brought under control.
Medical: The medical Teams working in these areas report that upto
now no signs of any outbreak of epidemics has been noticed. The
main complaints, however, continue to be. Anemia, Mal-Nutrition and
diarrhoea. Anaemia, which is gnerally caused by the ’hook worm’ is
widespread due to pointed water which is sometimes the only
available wateiffor drinking and which is infected by hookworm.
Body aches and headaches is another common complaint - which
may be caused by concussion i.e. the force of water during the
tidal wave, banging against hard objects etc. This cannot be
treated by analgesics. So far stool tests have not been conducted.
J
A
4
but they might reveal multiple infections, which may explain the
complete collapse of adults immediately after an attack of dysentry.
There is a danger that anemia cases, if untreated, may lead
cardiac ailments in the long run.
Problem,: Such needs are not catered to by clinical treatment.
Patients who do come for treatment receive medicines which <
probably give relief, but it is not possible in a village clinic
to cater adequately to the patients according to the special
medical history constituted by the ex impact of the tidal wave.
More treatment given at leisure and at length, in'the houses,
even though not provided by trained and qualified doctors may be
useful, provided these "bare foot” doctors are briefed about and
try to observe and follow up the peculiar effects of the tidal wave
experience.
The village clinics are incurring very high expense and
causing great strain on personnel resources of hospitals but
perhaps do not reach the cause of health problems. For meeting the
actual medical needs of the post-tidal wave situation for the next
two or three months, a solution may be found on the following
lines:
(a) If public health personnel are available to engage them
for three months even on high salary
(b) since public health nurses are most probably not available,
to recruit graduate ladies about ten or fifteen and give
them an intensive training for a few days. After this
these ladies to work in the existing sub-centres and
attend to the following:
i) to observe and note down detailed symptoms of
peculiar post-tidal wave health conditions of
patients viz. incidence of anaemia in adults, head
ache and body-ache, muscular pain, to indicate
patients for stool tests etc.
ii) to educate village women with respect to preventive
health measures
iii) to refer patients needing more expert treatment to
trained doctors
iv) to dispense simple medicines and follow up cases in
the houses.
Plans: The plans of emergency relief having now
DOW almost come to an
end various schemes of providing the infr^a-structure for the
victims to return to their normal occupations, namely agriculture,
livestock and fishing are being taken upL The people are being
helped to purchase tobls and implements to help them settle down
5
to regular work.
Various short-term cottage industries schemes have been
started viz. manufacturing of jute bags, and plastic bags with
plastic thread.
A scheme for small savings out of daily earnings has also been
proposed to build up a sense of security in the house.
The big problem of the villagers is that they do not have any
records or documents of their land holdings since everything has
been washed away by the tidal waves. The village offices which
would have had these records of the land-holdings, have also been
washed away by the tidal waves. The village offices which would
have had these records of the land-holdings, have also been
washed away. The only solution is to try to procure them from the
Taluka Office which is not an easy jobi Our volunteers have under
taken this task of trying to retrive these documents for the
distraught people, from the Taluka Office.
Conclusion: The trend of relief work for the next five or six
weeks has now become somewhat clear. The emphasis on relief
distribution is reduced and community organisation activities,
including preventive medicine, and/subsidiary income schemes,
small savings etc. assume more and more importance.
In keeping with the change in the nature of relief work, the
type of volunteers needed also changes. 1,rhile there is still a need
for men who may not know the local language but are able to join
in cierring operations, inspire enthusiasm in the villagers by
their example and superwise distribution, there is a greater need
for women social workers who can awaken and mobilise local women
for initiating long-term improvement in the home and moving
towards normalcy.
It is earnestly hoped that with this unremitting effort and
constant reflection and evaluation of the relief work, the victims
will be able to build up a new life which will be both prosperous,
as it was before the disaster, and also more community-oriented
and based on mutual love and concern in the village.
January 25, 1978.
+ Rt. Rev.Dr. Joseph Thumma,
Bishop of Vijayawada,
Chairman,
Diocesan Relief Committee,
Bishop’s House,
Vijayawada - 520 008,
A.F., INDIA.
Jl
CATHOLIC MISSION CYCLONE RELIEF AND REHABILITATION CENTRE
VIJAYAWADA
STAri.STICAL . REPORT Period 15-1-1978 to 21-1-1978.
(This R;-\ .Ji t is conpfLed from the Weekly Reports submitted by the
three Bate C \mps in the tidal wave zone to the Central Office)
A, Relief D.< tribution
8,947 Kgs
Rice
1 * Food:
700 "
Wheat
340 ft
Dal
3,108 (t
Milk Powder
80 ri
Vegetables
46
Chillies
76
Tamarind
Utensils:
38
Plates
38
Spoons
38
Glasses
38
Vessels
38
Mugs
38
Lamps
38
Ladles
9
Buckets
130
Mats
3. Clpthirig:
Blankets
Sarees
Dhotis
Towels
Old Clothes
B, Medical Care
■
■,in
— .— i ■■
aw*.-**^
Fever
Respiratory
Stomach
Diarrhoea
Others
»
r
k
I
C, Re-construction
1, Construction of Huts:
a) Houses constructed in
collaboration with CARE
b) Sites cleared
c) MateriSls»supplied
.alstsupplied for
House fonstruction:
Palmyra leaves
Bamboos
iii Poles
iv Side Poles
d) Houses constructed
2. Village water supply:
a) Wells cleaned
3 • Fa™?-!1.#. P-P.^aJiops:
a) Threshing
4. a) Corpses, burried/burnt
b) Carcasses
958
200
420
411
17 bags
316 Cases
ft
696
ft
552
I!
561
It
2,910
259
3 Villages
28,900
4,855
121
851
63
8
214 acres
..2Q
12
I
Position: 3585 (2 views)