Tamil Nadu, India: CCF Assisting Tsunami Nagar Settlement

CCF provided breakfast and dinner to men, women and children living in the Tsunami Nagar settlement.

In the Karaikal region of Tamil Nadu, India, heavy rains continue to affect many families along the coast devastated by last year’s tsunami. The northeast monsoon, which began in late October, has caused damage to infrastructure, caused some lakes and reservoirs to overflow and destroyed homes.

Tsunami Nagar, a new settlement created in the aftermath of the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami, has been severely affected. Built on a paddy field, the unusually heavy rainfall — 70 cm of rain was recorded during eight days in late November — caused floodwaters to quickly rise knee-deep and enter homes. Residents had to be moved to the nearby Church Marriage Hall and places of worship.

“During the tsunami, I lost my parents and now I am residing with my aunty’s family,” said 12-year-old Damayanthi.  “They are working as daily wage laborers.

On September 11, 2005, our villagers faced a very harrowing time due to heavy rainfall and our new settlement is situated in a low lying area. Floodwater entered our home, water was flooding in our village, then government authority shifted us in one marriage hall but there are no proper facilities. We were all in big trouble.”

Village leaders approached CCF-India requesting assistance with food aid, most specifically, ingredients and cooking vessels to prepare food for the community, and special items for children’s nutritional needs.

Because the government was unable to meet all of the needs resultant from the flooding, CCF-India set up a community kitchen in Tsunami Nagar.

For nine days in November, CCF provided breakfast and dinner to 263 members of the village, as well as nutritional supplements to 79 children and 11 pregnant women and new mothers. Community members were involved in the purchasing and preparation of the foods.