By Parvathy Ganesan | Project Leader
“My greatest concern was- how will we survive the next monsoon?” says Anithakumari, a self-employed tailor and mother of a 6 year old, whose house in Parakkadavu had suffered serious damages in the flood. “I raised some loans, but that was nowhere near enough. I was getting sleepless. That was when I came to know about ATMA Foundation’s work.” Soon enough, Anitha met the headmistress of the nearby Parakkadavu L P School, and through her, got in touch with ATMA. Now, 4 months later, she proudly welcomes us to her finished house, secure in the knowledge that, whatever the rains might bring this time, her aged father, young son, and herself will be safe from the fury.
Ajithan, another resident in the area, was bed ridden with a back-bone injury when the floods hit. He recalls the day when, despite his health condition, he found the strength to stand on his feet and take his family to safety. He has not looked back since. With financial support from the ATMA- GlobalGiving flood relief project, his house is now fully restored, and his family safe.
It was the same story with all the families that the ATMA team visited, in the vicinity of the Parakkadavu L P School, for whom support had been provided for repairs, maintenance and rebuilding of homes damaged in the flood. ATMA has adopted an approach wherein the families themselves get their needs assessed by a qualified engineer, and prepare a budget. The requests are assessed by experts in the ATMA team, and if reasonable, given a go-ahead.
ATMA strives to identify and support those who are in genuine need, and who have no other sources of support. 10 families have completed the work now, and more requests are in different stages of processing.
As part of the Livelihood Rebuilding initiative, the ATMA Digital & Financial Empowerment Project is also getting ready for launch. This will educate people on financial planning to combat emergencies (including insurance & investments), digital banking, online employment opportunities, entrepreneurship opportunities, etc.
Meanwhile, monsoon fury has once again descended on Kerala, with serious outcomes predicted in 12 districts. Team ATMA is gearing up once again, to help our people withstand the calamity and to overcome it together.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
