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'There were whole families lost with no one to identify them or tell if all the family members' bodies were found.'
--Vinayaga Murthy, fisherman
Habitat contributes to short- and long-term tsunami response
Fishermen who struggled for their own lives when the tsunami hit say they saw 3,000 to 4,000 religious pilgrims perish on the beach at Vailankanni near Nagapattinam, south of Chennai, India. People come from all over the world to pray for healing at a Roman Catholic basilica on the site where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a crippled shepherd boy and healed him.
December 26, the Sunday morning after Christmas, was a day for huge crowds at mass after mass, which are held in different languages. Vendors' stalls lined the beach and families walked there in a holiday mood. Perhaps as many as one half of those lost were children playing on the beach while their parents attended services in the church one km (0.6 miles) away.
"We'll never know how many died," said Vinayaga Murthy, a fisherman who had been on the beach selling fish that day. "There were whole families lost, with no one to identify them or tell if all the family members' bodies were found." Two hundred of his fellow villagers died, and one-third of them were children.
Habitat for Humanity India staff in Chennai organized three youth teams to aid in the recovery of bodies the day after the disaster. Eight hundred bodies were recovered right away and many more have washed ashore since. Now there is little activity at the Missing Persons Enquiry Center, near the entrance to the church. Pilgrims who enter the church pass a sign that says "Let us pray for our dear ones...."
The priests and staff of the church are talking to HFH India leaders about helping with long-term housing for the villagers, said A. Michael, an HFH India field coordinator who moved from Madurai to Nagapattinam to help organize Habitat's local response. "We are taking input from local people. We want to be ready when the government says where and when we can build," he said.
Day laborers suffer loss of livelihood and an uncertain future
In low areas near Silver Beach at Cuddalore the water encroached more than three km (two miles) from the shore. Six died here in Devanampettai, a village of daily laborers with 150 families.
Their immediate need is for shelter elsewhere. Their simple brick and thatch houses or others made all of palm leaves have been swept away or severely damaged. They say they are too close to the water; the government says it will take six to eight months to relocate them. "We are waiting, just waiting...for the rehabilitation," said Veetrivel.
The government has given them food, clothing and 4,000 rupees (US$92).They are receiving other aid from nongovernmental organizations, including medicines, but they have heard of no government plans to provide them with temporary shelter.
They earn an income here for about 10 months out of the year growing and harvesting casuarinas trees. They start saplings and transplant them. They cut and trim the mature trees, selling small branches for firewood. The long, straight trunks are used for building.
They hope to save some of the larger trees, but many will likely be harvested to provide some needed income. All the saplings died from the salt water. "We want to plant again, but we have no money to start over," Veetrivel said.
The villagers are just beginning to get over their loss enough to think about the future. They tell about a small boy and an old woman who were swept into a hut and couldn't get out. It was three days before anyone was able to recover their bodies.
"Yesterday, 18 days later, we found another body," said Veetrivel. "We still don't know how many are unaccounted for. At least 15 people who were working in the fields were washed away; there has been no sign of any of them."
Habitat starts with 'core houses'
HFH India has devised a concept "core house" as part of its response to reconstruction after the December tsunami.
"We would envisage each unit costing around US$1,500, all told," said Rick Hathaway, Habitat for Humanity's Asia/Pacific regional program director. "The specifics of the design could change according to local conditions. One option would be to build twin units or units of four homes, as well as individual homes."
The proposal is for a 250-square-foot "footprint." It would feature a single room and an adjacent cooking or "wet" area, plus space for an additional room. The main room would have three slatted windows for ventilation and a steel door in a pre-cast concrete frame. The cookery/wet area also would have ventilators and a steel shutter for privacy.
Also, HFH India envisions establishing up to six building and training centers as a key part of its tsunami reconstruction initiative.
The centers would initially be manned by Habitat staff and specialist volunteers and would provide construction and design expertise and training to support on-the-ground building, whether undertaken by Habitat teams, families or partner organizations.
Habitat for Humanity India already has begun rebuilding, at the outset repairing for less than US$300 per unit 250 homes in Kanyakumari and 250 in Kerala. "Core house" construction is planned to begin in March.
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