Providing permanent shelter to people is one of the five-point agendas. The scale of destruction in the coastal villages from Chennai to Kalpakkam may not be as much as Nagapattinam or Kadaloor, but then one visit to places like Paramankeni and Angaalamman kuppam (named after the village Goddess - Angaalamman Kuppam means small village in Tamil) shows that the people cannot rebuild their lives on their own. The people need the Government and NGOs' funds and expertise to get back to their 'normal life'. In Tamilnadu's villages, you cannot just walk in and start a development project. They have their chosen people - mostly elders - to sit and talk about issues pertaining to the village. This is called 'Panchaayat'. Today, we are visiting 11 Kuppams that have been adopted by CRDS for Shelter work. Sitting and talking to them about reconstruction efforts is a essential but tiring task.There are people with straight requests, hidden agendas, greed oozing through her let-me-get-whatever-I can-from-these-people-eyes. One woman, of the last category comes to us wearing a see-we-are-so-poor-and-we-are-dying look on her face while we are just about to leave after a loooong discussion on housing issues. "When are you going to give us more rice and paruppu (lentil)? It is so tough", she asks. Seven months after Tsunami, she still wants the Government and NGO to give her everyday bread (or rice!). Annoyed, but still wanting to give an answer that doesn't hurt much, the Project manager tells her, "Ennama ippadi kekkareenga, boat, engine, net ellam koduthome, ippo arisi paruppum kodukkanumna mudiyuma, meen pudichu pozhainga, adukku udavarom. Poytu varom" (We have given you boats, engines and nets.So, please use them to earn your livelihood. For that, we will support you, not by giving rice and lentil)
