April 2, 2007

By Chris Herlinger Church World Service

SOUTH CHINNOOR, India--In the end, the success of disaster response and rehabilitation depends on working together--a fact celebrated recently in the hot, sunny coastal areas of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

"I realize what partnership can do when people from across the world join hands with you," Sushant Agrawal, the director of long-time Church World Service (CWS) partner Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), said March 28.

Agrawal, CASA staff members, local clergy, public officials and a CWS delegation joined tsunami survivors in helping celebrate the completion of 53 new homes and a multipurpose disaster shelter in the village of South Chinnoor, in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district.

Church World Service and its U.S. denominational supporters are among those that have helped fund CASA's post-tsunami reconstruction and recovery efforts, which include the construction of 4,000 permanent homes in tsunami-affected areas of southern India.

More than two-thirds of the new homes have already been constructed and the remaining structures are expected to be completed by June. In a number of villages, housing has also been supplemented by the multipurpose disaster shelters, which double as community meeting centers.

At the invitation of CASA, the CWS delegation--which included CWS Emergency Response Director Donna Derr; the Rev. Johnny Wray, director of Week of Compassion, the Christian Church (Disciples); and Susan Ryan, director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA)--participated in a series of dedications the week of March 24 in villages in both Cuddalore and in the district of Thoothukudi.

In pre-Holy Week ceremonies marked by elements of solemnity and fun, reverence and color, a three-way partnership--of CASA, international church partners and local communities themselves--was heralded as a model of working together in a region still feeling the effects of the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster.

Thousands of South Indians lost their lives in the tsunami. More than 230,000 homes in 1,089 villages--nearly all of them dependent on fishing--were damaged or destroyed, and villages in both Cuddalore and Thoothukudi were among the most severely affected. In Cuddalore and surrounding areas, for example, more than 600 people died and 11,000 families had to be evacuated into displacement camps.

Wray told residents in the village of Keelavaipar, in the Thoothukudi district, that from the moment the tsunami struck, CWS-member denominations in the United States were quick to respond with financial and material support and said they have been "grateful" for their partnership with CASA. "We're so pleased to be here with CASA and please be assured our prayers will remain with you," he said during the March 26 ceremony.

At the ceremony two days later at South Chinnoor, Ryan praised CASA as a "wonderful partner" and said that churches in the United States and elsewhere know that in responding to disasters like the tsunami, "we do not, we cannot, work alone." And in responding, it does so in the spirit of "the human family together--Christian, Muslim, Hindu."

The new dedicated homes are providing much-needed shelter to the affected communities and are a key element to CASA's overall work in the affected areas, which in the initial crisis stage included distribution of food and non-food relief items and which in the current reconstruction and rehabilitation phase includes efforts to restore livelihoods, particularly to women in the affected communities, as well as conducting disaster preparedness work.

Housing, however, has been a cornerstone of CASA efforts, a fact noted by Derr, who praised CASA for its continuing commitment to the tsunami-affected coastal area even after other relief agencies have left the region.

"I just want to say 'welcome home' to all of you," Derr said at the dedication ceremony at South Chinnoor, "and thank you to CASA for the vision to work here and to you (the residents) for having the strength to continue on long after the tsunami occurred."

Among those now living in the new homes are Keelavaipar residents Mary and Timothy Fernando, married 55 years. Timothy Fernando, 70, a life-long fisherman, received a ceremonial "first key" to the family's new home, which he and his wife share with their three daughters.

"We're very happy, in God's presence, for your help," Mary Fernando, 65, said of CASA's efforts and CASA's support from its international partners like CWS.

CASA, an outreach of Protestant and Orthodox churches in India, is a non-governmental organization (NGO), autonomous and registered, that has been working in the fields of disaster mitigation and social development in India for nearly 60 years. CASA and Church World Service are both members of the Action by Churches Together (ACT) International alliance.

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin (24/7), 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net