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| Thanks to the generous response to our call to help Tsunami victims. We got pledges for more than One Thousand dollars within a day and a total of $ 1628. $815 was used for the distribution of New cloths and food as reported below and $200 donated to TRO through local president ShanthaKumar for Srilankan Tsunami Victims. Balance $600 + 220 ($200 from IT refund) sent to UdavumKarangal to Adopt a Family to provide medicine, food, clothing, utensils for cooking and help construct a new house to live and to Provide basic medicine, food and clothing to one family and the balance for general Tsunami Relief fund that has identified 3 villages located on the way to Pondichery [Kanipakkam to Marapakkam on East Coast Road] to adopt. For updates on their service please visit http://www.udavumkarangal.org/tsunamiupdate.asp and http://www.udavumkarangal.org/tsunamireport.asp Link for damages updated by TN Govt - http://www.tn.gov.in/tsunami/damages.htm Here's a report from this seva participant Ramya Velu who is an old student of Balvikas |
The destruction of waves led us to…
The day after Christmas, many innocent lives near the seashore were affected by the waves. Before anyone knew, the tsunami had hit many
places along the Asian coasts. It was quite sad to hear the news reporters announce the death toll in the thousands. In Tamil Nadu the death toll
is roughly 11,000. Worldwide, the death toll adds up to nearly 300,000. Just to imagine what people will do, with everything they owned washed
away, along with their loved ones, is immensely painful.
On that particular day, my mom, Visalakshi Velu, and I were vacationing in India. We were in our village Rayavaram, when we saw the news unfold
on television. It was too sad and gruesome to digest what was happening to the innocent people. Upon returning to Madras, a few of us were sure
that we needed to serve the affected, as much as we could. So my parents decided we’d start out with 4000 Rupees, to serve food for the needy.
Within a day, a single e-mail sent to all our North Dallas Sai center members reached many. The contributions added up to approximately 40,000
Rupees. Immediately, we decided that we could append this project from just making food for the affected to giving blankets, sarees, lungis, water
packets, uncooked rice, cooked lemon rice, and yogurt rice.
Although countless people were donating as much as they could, (old clothes, food, and such) not everything was reaching the most needed, yet
neglected regions of Tamil Nadu. All the donated goods were collected at a centralized location where authorities claimed that the goods would
be evenly distributed. However, the news reporters conveyed that the necessary aid was not being properly allocated. In order to make sure our
distributions would directly reach one of the overlooked regions, my mom, our service coordinator, decided to dispense our contributions directly
to the people.
To maximize the purchasing power of the amount of money we had, we purchased goods at wholesale rates. We were able to purchase 100
quality blankets, lungis, and sarees. The bigger task at hand was to prepare the food, pack it, and hand it out on the same day before the food got
spoilt. Our family and friends helped in preparing over 400 packages of food. We also packed 300 bags of uncooked rice. “Water, water,
everywhere, but not a drop to drink,” best describes the situation many people found themselves to be a part of. The government set up camping
tents, only a little distance away from the seashore, yet the people didn’t have fresh drinking water. To quench their thirst, we also carried 500
packets of water.
Finally we loaded everything onto a tempo, and started our journey. Our group consisted of three ladies and 10 men and our destination was
Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. It is about an hour and a half drive from Chennai. We were told that this area was the second most devastated region in
Tamil Nadu. The relief entering a certain region was given extensively to the immediate surrounding concentration of people thereby creating a
demand for food in the regions beyond.
Two granite company workers, whose affected relatives reside in Kalpakkam, directed us to a slum area. As we got to this slum area, people
surrounded us and were looking forward to receiving what we were about to distribute. It took a while before people started to listen to their
government authority, and finally formed a line. First we distributed the food. The urgency to receive items necessary for their survival created lack
of discipline and arguments. People were fighting to get something. More or less, the people started attacking us. However, we found ways to
handle the anxious crowd, and at the same time safeguarded ourselves. Once we were done distributing the food, we started handing out the
clothes. However, the crowd became even more aggressive, so we decided to leave the place.
On our way to our next stop, a police officer stopped us to enquire where we were taking these goods. He guided us to a relief-deprived area
where people were severely affected. We drove for a long time. After we got down and looked around, we saw washed away huts. The huts were
hardly a shelter; some were only roofs. People had cholera medicine sprinkled around the huts. The sand was so unstable from being washed
away by the water, that with each step our feet would sink in. We proceeded on to distribute the goods.
Before we could begin distributing the goods, people surrounded the tempo. A couple of locals instructed that the efficient way to provide equal
service was by using a token system. However, the crowd was still uncontrollable. Some were so deprived and depressed that their anger rose in
an unmanageable manner. Finally we came to some agreement that everyone would sit down in rows and one by one we’d give out the
provisions. However, the people believed that we were just distributing food to eat for dinner. When they found out we had clothes, raw rice, and
blankets, they were impatient and afraid that we’d run out and they wouldn’t get enough for them selves. Hardly minutes passed by before chaos
reached its peak. Daylight was passing when the people started surrounding the tempo and wanted to get the goods without standing in a line.
Some started climbing the tempo to grab as much as they could. People started squishing us. We passed out a whole set of commodities for
each person. Once we realized that it was becoming a safety issue and people were jumping at us, we moved. The tempo was taken away. We
ran for safety. We wanted to avoid a stampede, so we took off. However, we left with a trustworthy local man. We stopped a good distance away,
and gave that man two sacks of rice, huge boxes of cooked food, a stack of clothes, blankets, and donated used clothes. We dropped him off at
the earlier spot so that he could distribute the provisions to the people in a more effective manner.
We drove further down and reached a camping ground. Due to the lack of electricity, people had to build fires for light during night. Designated
government officials came forward and asked us to fill out information about ourselves and the goods we had brought. They assured us that they’
d distribute the goods evenly, before our eyes, if we preferred.
Looking back, it was shocking to think about the amount of chaos that was created by the tsunami. There was so much tragedy in each person’s
situation, be it a pregnant woman, a newborn baby, or a 5-year-old boy, each one’s story was unbearable. However, with the manpower, and
willingness of many of our family members and friends, we were able to be of significant help to the numerous people we encountered.
Altogether, this gave us a fulfilling satisfaction that we genuinely reached out to the needy and we started the year out with service on January 1st
2005. Most of our family and all of our volunteers put forth full effort, to make this project a successful one.
Without all our volunteers, this project would’ve been a tough one! Thanks to our volunteers: Thiru A. Ganapathy Chettiar, Ambal Annamalai,
Navanidhi Annamalai, Ganapathy Kasinathan, Indra Kasinathan, Anush Kasinathan, Meena Kasinathan, Vandarkulali Muthiah, Solaiappan
Muthiah, Ram Prasad Sundar, Mohammed Fakrudeen, Kripakar, Alagappan, and Visalakshi Velu
Ramya Velu
The day after Christmas, many innocent lives near the seashore were affected by the waves. Before anyone knew, the tsunami had hit many
places along the Asian coasts. It was quite sad to hear the news reporters announce the death toll in the thousands. In Tamil Nadu the death toll
is roughly 11,000. Worldwide, the death toll adds up to nearly 300,000. Just to imagine what people will do, with everything they owned washed
away, along with their loved ones, is immensely painful.
On that particular day, my mom, Visalakshi Velu, and I were vacationing in India. We were in our village Rayavaram, when we saw the news unfold
on television. It was too sad and gruesome to digest what was happening to the innocent people. Upon returning to Madras, a few of us were sure
that we needed to serve the affected, as much as we could. So my parents decided we’d start out with 4000 Rupees, to serve food for the needy.
Within a day, a single e-mail sent to all our North Dallas Sai center members reached many. The contributions added up to approximately 40,000
Rupees. Immediately, we decided that we could append this project from just making food for the affected to giving blankets, sarees, lungis, water
packets, uncooked rice, cooked lemon rice, and yogurt rice.
Although countless people were donating as much as they could, (old clothes, food, and such) not everything was reaching the most needed, yet
neglected regions of Tamil Nadu. All the donated goods were collected at a centralized location where authorities claimed that the goods would
be evenly distributed. However, the news reporters conveyed that the necessary aid was not being properly allocated. In order to make sure our
distributions would directly reach one of the overlooked regions, my mom, our service coordinator, decided to dispense our contributions directly
to the people.
To maximize the purchasing power of the amount of money we had, we purchased goods at wholesale rates. We were able to purchase 100
quality blankets, lungis, and sarees. The bigger task at hand was to prepare the food, pack it, and hand it out on the same day before the food got
spoilt. Our family and friends helped in preparing over 400 packages of food. We also packed 300 bags of uncooked rice. “Water, water,
everywhere, but not a drop to drink,” best describes the situation many people found themselves to be a part of. The government set up camping
tents, only a little distance away from the seashore, yet the people didn’t have fresh drinking water. To quench their thirst, we also carried 500
packets of water.
Finally we loaded everything onto a tempo, and started our journey. Our group consisted of three ladies and 10 men and our destination was
Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. It is about an hour and a half drive from Chennai. We were told that this area was the second most devastated region in
Tamil Nadu. The relief entering a certain region was given extensively to the immediate surrounding concentration of people thereby creating a
demand for food in the regions beyond.
Two granite company workers, whose affected relatives reside in Kalpakkam, directed us to a slum area. As we got to this slum area, people
surrounded us and were looking forward to receiving what we were about to distribute. It took a while before people started to listen to their
government authority, and finally formed a line. First we distributed the food. The urgency to receive items necessary for their survival created lack
of discipline and arguments. People were fighting to get something. More or less, the people started attacking us. However, we found ways to
handle the anxious crowd, and at the same time safeguarded ourselves. Once we were done distributing the food, we started handing out the
clothes. However, the crowd became even more aggressive, so we decided to leave the place.
On our way to our next stop, a police officer stopped us to enquire where we were taking these goods. He guided us to a relief-deprived area
where people were severely affected. We drove for a long time. After we got down and looked around, we saw washed away huts. The huts were
hardly a shelter; some were only roofs. People had cholera medicine sprinkled around the huts. The sand was so unstable from being washed
away by the water, that with each step our feet would sink in. We proceeded on to distribute the goods.
Before we could begin distributing the goods, people surrounded the tempo. A couple of locals instructed that the efficient way to provide equal
service was by using a token system. However, the crowd was still uncontrollable. Some were so deprived and depressed that their anger rose in
an unmanageable manner. Finally we came to some agreement that everyone would sit down in rows and one by one we’d give out the
provisions. However, the people believed that we were just distributing food to eat for dinner. When they found out we had clothes, raw rice, and
blankets, they were impatient and afraid that we’d run out and they wouldn’t get enough for them selves. Hardly minutes passed by before chaos
reached its peak. Daylight was passing when the people started surrounding the tempo and wanted to get the goods without standing in a line.
Some started climbing the tempo to grab as much as they could. People started squishing us. We passed out a whole set of commodities for
each person. Once we realized that it was becoming a safety issue and people were jumping at us, we moved. The tempo was taken away. We
ran for safety. We wanted to avoid a stampede, so we took off. However, we left with a trustworthy local man. We stopped a good distance away,
and gave that man two sacks of rice, huge boxes of cooked food, a stack of clothes, blankets, and donated used clothes. We dropped him off at
the earlier spot so that he could distribute the provisions to the people in a more effective manner.
We drove further down and reached a camping ground. Due to the lack of electricity, people had to build fires for light during night. Designated
government officials came forward and asked us to fill out information about ourselves and the goods we had brought. They assured us that they’
d distribute the goods evenly, before our eyes, if we preferred.
Looking back, it was shocking to think about the amount of chaos that was created by the tsunami. There was so much tragedy in each person’s
situation, be it a pregnant woman, a newborn baby, or a 5-year-old boy, each one’s story was unbearable. However, with the manpower, and
willingness of many of our family members and friends, we were able to be of significant help to the numerous people we encountered.
Altogether, this gave us a fulfilling satisfaction that we genuinely reached out to the needy and we started the year out with service on January 1st
2005. Most of our family and all of our volunteers put forth full effort, to make this project a successful one.
Without all our volunteers, this project would’ve been a tough one! Thanks to our volunteers: Thiru A. Ganapathy Chettiar, Ambal Annamalai,
Navanidhi Annamalai, Ganapathy Kasinathan, Indra Kasinathan, Anush Kasinathan, Meena Kasinathan, Vandarkulali Muthiah, Solaiappan
Muthiah, Ram Prasad Sundar, Mohammed Fakrudeen, Kripakar, Alagappan, and Visalakshi Velu
Ramya Velu
Tsumani Seva
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"Love as thought, is truth. Love as action is
right conduct. Love as understanding is
peace. Love as feeling is non-violence."
right conduct. Love as understanding is
peace. Love as feeling is non-violence."