The Tsunami Rebuilding Fund has enabled the rebuilding process in the tsunami-affected areas. We have been able to:
Around 70 per cent of the people of Tuticorin district are dependent on agriculture. Not only were homes and land ravaged by the tsunami, many families lost their sole earning member, thus leaving them with nothing and nobody to depend on economically.
ITC provided support to the Foundation of Occupational Development (FOOD) to build an integrated housing complex in the remote fishing village of Alanthalai, 10 kilometres away from Tiruchendur. The beneficiaries are widows with children.
The complex is designed to have 16 modular houses, a community hall, a 'balvadi', a playground and a sanitary unit. Solar lighting will be provided and there will be a shop for establishing a micro-enterprise. The beneficiaries will form self-help groups (SHGs) and will manage the maintenance of the complex.
Several boat building and repair yards were destroyed by the tsunami. In order to support the livelihood restoration activities of the fishing communities in Tamilnadu, support was provided to the South India Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) to build a boat production-cum-service center in Villupuram district.
The construction activity began in March 2006 and the boat yard was ready by September 2006. Today this boat yard services the two district of Cuddalore and Villupuram. It repairs and produces 200 boats annually.
This centre also trains youngsters from the nearby fishing communities and from remote areas like Anathamangalam and teaches them to building fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) boats.
Several women were widowed and made destitute by the tsunami and there was an urgent need to provide alternative income-generation opportunities for them.
Selling dried fish is an important economic activity in these fishing villages. Support was provided to People's Upliftment in Rural Areas (PURA) to introduce solar fish drying technology in the area. A solar drier, solar hot air generator and related accessories were installed in Koottumangalam, Kanyakumari District in December 2005. Vocational training in dry fish preparation was imparted to a group of 50 women.
The introduction of this new technology has benefited the community in several ways. Solar fish drying reduces the time taken to dry fish from three to five days to just a few hours, thus improving the efficiency and hygiene standards. These Improvements have led to an expansion in markets and a doubling of income for women from an irregular average wage of Rs 60 to Rs 120 per day.
This intervention has helped facilitate educational, health and an all- round development of the families of beneficiaries.
While the villages of Cuddalore and Kariakal received immediate aid for food after the tsunami, their long-term needs were not being addressed. Many women wanted to return to selling fish but they did not have access to funds and were forced to seek loans at a high interest rate of 36 per cent.
Support was provided to the Pondicherry Multipurpose Social Service Society (PMSSS) to set up a revolving fund from which women could borrow money to set up businesses. The self-help group (SHG) project supported a revolving fund of Rs 3,000,000 for members of 50 SHGs in Cuddalore district. Each group of 20 members received Rs 60,000. With this money, women were able to engage in fishing and other sustainable enterprises like selling flowers, tailoring, goat rearing or farming, to support their families. The loans are repaid in easy installments of Rs 100 over a period of 30 months.
While several women restarted old trades, this was also an opportunity for many to start new enterprises. Women are now earning monthly incomes of Rs 600 to Rs 1,500 and many have opened savings bank accounts.
Besides providing income-generating opportunities, SHGs have also provided a platform for women to come together to share concerns like economic growth, health and hygiene, leadership opportunities and skills development.
With the repaid loans new SHGs are being set up.