Ramavaram Visit, October 19th, 2008

Pamela organized a trip to Ramavaram yesterday, on the 19th of October. They spent a few hours in the slum playing with the children and talking to the adults. On their visit, they learned about the profound effects of the recent heavy rains on the slum. Here is what she wrote about her experience and the decisions that followed:

The visit on the 19th of October, 2008 to Ramavaram got us more information about how to go about helping them. The condition of the area was worsened by heavy rains over the past few days. Looking at all of this made us realize our responsibility of providing them with food and clothing. Event though medical camps are very essential from our point of view as medical students, it is our duty to fulfill their present needs. We are hoping to distribute rice and dhal to all the families within the next few days. We wish this effort will bring some change in the community.

As a result of this trip, we have decided to take immediate action to provide food security to the residents in Ramavaram. This was described in last night's post.

Today a group of Sangam India members will be going to the markets to purchase food to give to each house, which are as follows:

• 2 kilograms of uncooked rice
• half a kilogram of toor dhal (pigeon peas)
• a small amount of puli (tamarind,) an essential South Indian cooking ingredient
  

There are approximately one hundred houses total in Ramavaram, so we plan on giving each family this quantity of food.

Once again: we need volunteers and funds for these projects. This is going to be an expensive, but necessary, emergency expenditure. If you can help sponsor this food for even a few houses, it would be a great help. It may need to be repeated in the following weeks. We'll be posting information about our expenses as it becomes available. Please contact us if you may be able to help.

Photo: The Hindu