On December 26th, 2004 coastal communities in several countries in Asia and Africa awoke to the horror and devastation of a deadly tsunami. Today, on the first anniversary of that fateful day, we would like to take a moment to reflect on lives lost and livelihoods regained. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the citizens of the world reached deep into their pockets and made generous contributions to aid agencies all over the world to bring relief to those in need. We thank you, our patrons, for your support of Vibha's effort in the rehabilitation work in the tsunami affected communities in Tamil Nadu, India. This newsletter summarizes our activities targeted towards tsunami relief over the past year and plans for future reconstruction work.

We focused first on existing Vibha funded projects in the tsunami affected areas. Funds were released from Vibha's reserve fund to provide basic needs like food, water and clothing to people in the communities surrounding these projects. In parallel, Vibha's volunteer army started raising funds dedicated to tsunami relief, keeping in mind that the long and arduous task of rebuilding had just begun. A team of volunteers solicited and evaluated other projects targeting immediate and long term relief. This is an ongoing effort and we will keep you informed of the progress in a future edition of this newsletter.

Immediate Relief

• Vibha disbursed $3000 to the Society for Education and Action, an organization in Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, which bought 10 catamarans with the funds. Each catamaran was shared by two fishermen and ensured that they could resume fishing soon after the tsunami.
• Vidyarambam Trust, a Vibha-funded organization working towards primary education, provided immediate relief to the communities in which it is already active. Vibha immediately disbursed $5095 towards this effort and it was used to distribute cloths and utensils for 441 tsunami-affected families in Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari districts.
• Vibha partnered with Association for Sustainable Community Development (ASSCOD) in its immediate relief efforts. ASSCOD conducted health camps in three villages of Kanchipuram District with the help of $7088 disbursed by Vibha. Over 1000 people attended the camp and received medical treatment and counseling. ASSCOD also provided cooking vessels, basic food grains, mats, and blankets to the affected families.
• Rising Star Outreach (RSO), another Vibha-funded project working with the children of leprosy patients, also reacted immediately and reached out to the communities surrounding the project. Vibha sent $2000, which was used to distribute new clothes and bed sheets to 1000 people in villages near Chennai.

Long Term Relief

• The Vidyarambam Trust has also started 13 pre-primary and 13 remedial centers in tsunami-affected areas of Cuddalore district. The pre-primary centers ensure that children between the ages of 3 and 5 years do not get left behind and are ready to go to primary school. The remedial centers help children who have fallen behind to catch up with the rest of their class. Vibha contributed $ 9905 to this effort.
• Vibha disbursed $13,860 to ASSCOD, which set up 5 day care centers to teach over 300 pre-school children in Kanchipuram district. In addition to preparing them for primary school, these centers also provided them daily nutritional supplements. Mothers were involved and were counseled to help them cope with the trauma caused by the tsunami.

Future Plans

Vibha plans to evaluate projects from grassroots organizations involved in long-term rehabilitation. These would include activities that Vibha normally supports like primary education and vocational training but with a focus on communities affected by the tsunami. We hope to have the invaluable support of our patrons as we move into the next phase of rehabilitation.

Your feedback is important to us. Vibha welcomes any comments, suggestions or questions you may have about our projects, programs, products, monitoring etc. If you are particularly interested in a topic and would like to see Vibha showcase it please let us know.