By Usha Pillai | Project Leader
Dear friends ,
We are herewith the first report on the relief and rebuilding work we have undertaken in the flood affected areas / schools in Kerala . A BIG THANK YOU FOR YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT in enabling us to undertake this project. We could support the schools and children just because of your donation .
BACKGROUND
Kerala floods – a calamity of severe nature has claimed 400 lives so far while displacing lakhs of people. Houses and schools have been damaged very badly; people lost their belongings and children are left heart-broken to see that their favorite storybooks, school bags etc. have been washed away. Students pursuing higher education too have lost their important study materials. IDEA Foundation has started a project to help affected schools and affected children .
SITUATION AFTER FLOOD
As soon as the schools reopened after the flood , IDEA representatives visited a few schools in the most affected regions and after a need assessment , decided to focus on Kuttanad & Pandanad schools in Alleppy & Pathanamthitta districts in Kerala .
All the identified schools in these areas were flooded twice during the last monsoon -in the month of July and August . Kainakary , where three schools are located is below sea level hence it took a considerable time to subside water , leading to more damage. When we visited the schools , even 10 days after the terrible flood , the entire area was still under water . People lost everything at home ; Library, science and computer labs in many schools were completely damaged . A few benches and desks left by the furious flood were also broken and were beyond repair . Class rooms were looking dull without even a black board ,attractive walls or books . All children were without school uniform , they were wearing civil dress donated to them in relief camps. There was a serious issue of safe drinking water in the entire area. There were very few children in many schools as they were still away in their relatives’ house , far away from the flooded area.
The situation of houses was very pathetic. Many houses were completely washed away by the flood . The condition of many house were at risk , with broken walls , damaged electric fittings and without roof . Utensils , furniture, cloths ….all lost or damaged.
When we visited them after the flood , the teachers, parents & children were still in a shock and unable to understand where to start , now they are slowly coming in terms with the disaster . One of the thing touched us a lot was that we couldn’t ask poor children ‘to pose for a photo shoot with smile’ .
The schools selected for support, identified needs and support given till 30th September 2018 are given in the below table :-
Some of these schools were already supported for Benches & desks, Play materials , UPS for Computer lab, Science Lab . Children in some of these schools were supported for School bag and study material , Study table & Chair ( for use at home ) based on the need assessment and reviewing the support they have already received from other sources.
Support to some schools are still under process.
Though help is coming from different corners of the world , the rebuilding work has to go a long way . So requesting all our supporters to spread the word and donate generously so that we can reachout to more needy schools and children.
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