Sangam India: Blog: Relief Efforts at Ramavaram, June 16th

Today we went to the Ramavaram area to assist the former slum residents there through what seems to be a difficult transition period.

We came with a large team of students and members of the community as well and everyone had a part to play in one of our largest operations ever. Our aim was to distribute each of the following to each household:

bedsheet
vessel for transporting water (kudam)
soap
toothpowder
a packet of 'Marie Gold' biscuits

Though we had some difficulty initially with setting up the project, once things got started, they proceeded smoothly. Towards the end of the project we had some difficulty as there was some commotion in the community, and some people tried to get the same items twice. Though we found these things frustrating, we understood that they were the result of the difficult circumstances that these people were living in. Our project work today was led by Pamela and Vasundhra, who did an excellent job of coordinating and leading the work. In addition, we had a doctor, Dr. Tripthi, come with us to see some cases and we were able to treat one child who seemed to be having a worm infestation. Dr. Tripthi also suggested mass deworming the entire population to prevent transmission of enteric worms and we might be able to do this in the near future.

As we were giving out the items, we collected data from each family, regarding the names, ages, and sex of each of the family members. This will help us to better plan to serve their needs in the future.

It was also discovered during our visit that food was not given to the community at all today by the State Government, as was promised. The people were required to fend for themselves. Each family had been given a compensatory Rs. 2000 to help them cope with their losses. When we spoke to the government official regarding this, he merely stated that no further food was going to be given as the families had been given this amount of money. Fortunately, the water tank was refilled so the residents did have water.

Worsening the situation is a large amount of drunkenness by many of the adults in the community. This disappointing, but not totally unsurprising turn of events further saps the limited amounts of money the families have and ruins an already dismal morale.

We hope that our visit to Ramavaram today would have given to these families some essential, requested provisions, and more than that, helped to boost the morale in a community that seems to be adrift.

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support, both in terms of funding and volunteering. Please read Nivedita's post on how you can help if you are interested in contributing.