DanChurchAid
India
Searching for light at the end of the tunnel
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| Mahalaxmi with her 4-month old baby, India 2006 |
Kuppumanikam is a remarkably brave woman. After having lost her husband 10 years back, she single-handedly brought up her three children, who were very young at the time, by selling idly (a kind of staple fare in South India).
Then, when her eldest son Suganthan was a little older, he started working as a marine labour in big fishing boats to supplement the family income. A caring son and brother, Suganthan tried to take care of his mother and younger brother and sister to the best of his abilities. Kuppumanikam set up a grocery shop to eke out an additional income.
The family was just about managing to break even when the tsunami struck their village – Thirumullaivasal -- in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India. Suganthan was on the shore at the time of the tsunami and saw with horror the gigantic tidal waves rushing towards the shore. He raced back as fast as he could to his house (which was fortunately protected by other houses) and ran with his family to Sirkali town, located 13 km away.
Bad days followed as the family struggled to survive. Lutheran World Service – India/ACT International relief kits eased some of the immediate hardships, while inclusion of Suganthan’s name in the livelihood support programme helped the family sail back to normal life. Since Suganthan was the only earning member of the family, the fishermen’s panchayat (cooperative) suggested his name in the beneficiary list.
LWSI/ACT livelihood kit comprising boat, engine, nets and other fishing accessories, like rope, leads and floats, enabled Suganthan to get back to work and the sea again. Each LWSI boat is given to five fisher families who form a Self Help Group. They are registered with the government fisheries department. It was a happy day for Suganthan when he could marry Mahalakshmi at last and his family accepted her as his wife.
But good days did not last long for this ill-fated family. One month back, Suganthan died in a road accident! Apart from having to cope with the grief of his loss, the family has been plunged into the rough seas once again.
Kuppumanikam’s life has come a full circle. It has once more fallen on her now frail and ailing shoulders to run the family again. But she is too grief-stricken for her son to be able to look after the grocery shop. So, Suganthan’s 20-year-old widow, who is now the mother of a four-month old baby boy, is running the shop and earning between Rs 150-200 (USD 3-4) a day to keep the family alive.
Suganthan’s 15-year-old younger brother, Sudhakar, who stopped going to school from Class VIII and was helping his brother in fishing activities, has become completely withdrawn after his brother’s death. LWSI staffs are constantly by the side of this family who seems to have been so completely abandoned by Providence. They are offering psychosocial support by visiting, counselling and sharing in the grief. They are trying to motivate Sudhakar to take his brother’s place in the boat and in the family and arrange for his training.
LWSI staffs are also encouraging Kuppumanikam to start her idly vending business again and they are trying to find assistance for the venture.
Time is the best healer and one can only hope that this star-crossed family is able to find light at the end of the dark tunnel with LWSI/ACT support.
“We had been able to survive the tsunami with LWSI support. Another big storm has struck our family. We can only hope that LWSI will continue to be by our side in our hour of crisis,” Suganthan’s sister Sumati.
By Rina Chunder, Information/Documentation Officer, Lutheran World Service - India
DanChurchAid is a member of Lutherean World Federation (LWF) - a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. The Lutheran World Service/The Department for World Service (DWS) is the internationally recognized humanitarian and development agency of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) working with marginalized and disadvantaged communities in the areas of greatest vulnerability and endemic need.
India
