Between the land and the sea - Notes from #ChennaiRains 4

1. Chennai Volunteers - Count Me in
Details of needs and offers

2. Preethi Sukumaran

Relief materials request - young girls home.

Dear family,
All of us parents of girls love them. And are proud of them. And are paranoid about their safety.

I am collecting relief materials for a home that houses young girls who have gone through every parent's worst nightmare.

And have now after the floods lost all their clothing and basic necessities of leading a life.

Yes, the home I write about houses 300 young girls. From the age of 6 to 18.

They have been rescued from child marriage, child abuse, begging rackets, abuse, child labour and trafficking. Some of them are also orphaned or abandoned.

To help protect their dignity I have promised not to reveal volunteer details or location. This will be a very discreet relief drop. I will only be meeting the volunteer team and handing over materials. No photos, child details, ages or any more details will be shared.

I am collecting the following and can share specific details like sizes in a pm. I need material donation in kind preferably and stuff that you have personally or can locate and reach me.

1. New undergarments - bra, panty, slip 2 sets per child
2. Nighties 2 sets per child
3. Toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste small packs 300 pieces (I am organising soap and shampoo)
4. Mosquito net
5. Mugs, buckets
6. Biscuit packs, fruits

Fun stuff that children in these age groups can use - good quality clothing that has been inspected by you

Please let me know.

3. Anirudh Deepak's post.

Anirudh Deepak added 4 new photos — with Aparna Krishnan and 47 others.

I know it’s a little long but PLEASE READ IT FULLY

Headlines say that Chennai is coming back towards normalcy. So my friend Sudha Ramamoorthy and I headed out today to see what was the condition in few of the places which were worst affected.
First we went to JAFFERKHANPET. On reaching the Chennai middle school we were greated by this huge heap of garbage, which we later found out was the things that were cleaned from inside the school. Surely there isn’t any system followed for disposal of garbage inside and outside the school which was a home to over 200 people during the floods. The Corporation didn’t seem to send anyone to take the garbage which was lying on the road (confirmed by residents) One of the houses we went to had sewage water still inside and said that even after removing it, the water came back from somewhere. Yes, sewage from the Cooum crept into their homes. The people haven’t cleaned their houses because they are under the impression that there is going to flooding again along with a tsunami alert. I know it may sound strange but they believed that the city was going to be washed out by the end of the month.
So much for rumours being spread! -.-

Next we headed to EKKATUTHANGAL (Burma Colony) This place was comparatively better to Jaferkhanpet but it wasn’t anywhere near normalcy. The people in the house said they needed two more days to clean their houses and had’t started to go for work. The only source of water was from a tanker which didn’t seem to suffice their needs. All the water taps and pumps which were on the street had been broken because of trees falling down and other things. They didn’t have water to have a bath and claimed to bathe in the nearby “Eri”

Next we headed to NESSAPAKKAM and what we saw on the way was just terrible. Lorries dumping garbage on the main road (Anna Main Road MGR Nagar). Yes on the main road!
At Nessapakkam, in Kanu Nagar the resident claimed that no boat service came to rescue them. I myself saw water indications that water has risen onto the building for about 12-15 feet. They were without food for three full days. Even after the water had receded they had not got mats, blankets etc. The loacal mosque provided the residents of the street with food and supplies as much as they could. There were no medical camps nearby. Only yesterday (8-12-2015) on the initiative of the Lions club and Leo club a small camp was set up. They said that they had to travel all the way upto Ashok Nagar to buy basic provisions like Rice and Dal.

A few people lived in the nearby school but now had started to move to their houses. They said that the water from the bore well had a bad smell and was mixed with sewage. The water that came in tanks seemed to cause various problems like diarrhoea. They only depended on the water which was given at the school.
There was another strange thing that we saw. There were a group of people from the Revenue Department who had come to verify the Ration cards and note down the bank account numbers of those who had been affected. When we asked them “What if they had lost everything in the floods” for which the gentleman replied that this was the reason they went door to door to verify the address. This was in total contradiction to what one of the resident said. She had been told that they couldn’t help her because she had lost her ration card and pass book.

Many people weren’t even aware that they had to wash their houses with bleaching powder. Yes, it surprised me too.

In all the three areas, only a few people had started cooking in their homes. Some didn’t have the supplies, some were under the impression of another flood coming while some had just lost all that they had!
Unless I saw what was happening out there for real, one cannot understand the magnitude of the loss that this city and it’s people have undergone. Nor did I understand this initially!

The city is far from coming back to normalcy. There is a huge gap between where we are and where we have to go. Hope the message reaches the concerned people and something is done about it. I’m not against anyone nor am I criticising them. I’m just one among the worried “Chennaite’s” who want our makkal to lead a normal life once again!
Please share so that it comes to the attention of the right people.

‪#‎CRR2015‬ ‪#‎ReportsFromTheField‬ ‪#‎ChennaiRains‬ ‪#‎ChennaiFloods‬