First
quarter 2005- M.E.G Tsunami report
made by:
Ruth Tumati, Chairperson, Mary Ellen Gerber Foundation
Trust, India
BIG
NUMBERS . . . . .small dollars. I smiled
very much when you sent me a copy of the $1 a day
– feeds and cares for a child. The number ONE
always seems so small, it is the smallest number,
BUT with that ONE DOLLAR we reached out to a child
every day in the Tsunami Disaster area. I can truthfully
tell you that in the height of the disaster we were
caring for 1,220 children with 3 meals a day. That
was made possible because we had faith in MEG raising
the funds. We have been thanked by every village community
for the help.
In March the situation changed a little for the better.
The fishing boats did not start again, but the schools
re-opened and started to give midday meals in most
schools. That was a great act of care by the Government.
It encouraged children to go back to school. A number
of children did not go because of the trauma they
still held. Many small children would not leave their
house without their mother or father. For some children
it was the grandparent who they wished to stay with.
Until the end of March we were still feeding 590 children
in 6 villages, breakfast and an evening snack or meal.
The
SUMMER HOLIDAY PROBLEM
We now have to face the summer school holiday problem.
Schools have closed this week and there is no midday
meal available. We have been asked by 9 villages if
it is possible for us to continue with a breakfast
and one meal a day help and care programme. The families
are struggling to feed their children nutritionally
3 times a day. School teachers have been to see us.
They are asking that we also give a 1 or 2 hour non
formal education class to the children who come to
the care and feeding programme. The teachers were
very impressed with the arts and craft drawing non
formal education sheets and materials we provided
to all of the children.
WE
NEED ANOTHER DOLLAR FOR 60 DAYS. That is
our urgent need, our urgent appeal. (The truth is
that almost all of the international funding agencies
that appeared for relief work have now left) M.E.G
knows the need because we have staff living in the
Cuddalore District since December 31st. We have rented
5 houses as Children in Need Homes and are caring
for 64 children.
WHAT
WE WILL DO WITH YOUR DOLLAR. In every village
we will have a part time social worker who with our
senior staff can identify the neediest children. We
will set up in a community location a simple feeding
centre that will also offer the children First Aid.
Offer a breakfast meal and in the later afternoon,
when it starts to get cool a chance to non formal
education prior to the evening snack or meal. We will
monitor the drawings done by the children to have
our trained medical staff identify children who may
still have disaster trauma expressions.
SPONSORSHIP
– M.E.G India is now caring for a number of
children who are not sponsored. We have taken them
into our care, simply because we care for children
in need, today. We live by the words – MY NAME
IS TODAY - Children who have lost a parent in the
Tsunami disaster, children whose parents are leprosy
cured persons now unable to go begging because people
are not giving money to beggars in villages after
the Tsunami. Children who are traumatised and unwilling
to go to school but need and accept a ‘home’
care with other children (self security).
FEBRUARY
was our hardest month, many of the emergency relief
feeding centres stopped at end of January and we had
children from other villages coming into our 7 main
feeding village centres. We opened a total of 11 and
then 13 centres and the total average number of children
per day in February was 1010. On some days it peaked
to 1,117 plus children who came for just one meal
and some two. Others stayed all day, eating, playing,
talking to each other, drawing, getting involved in
games. All were seen at least once in 4 days by a
Nurse.
MARCH
was less hectic as we only had a large number coming
for 2 meals a day, but it still totalled 525 children
on average per day with Saturday and Sunday peaks
of 727. Without your support this would never have
been possible.
The
M.E.G work was done in co-operation with our friends
at New Hope who cared for children in 7 other feeding
centres in the adjoining village on the other side
of a major road junction. With them we shared staff,
had access to their medical care and together reached
out to the people trying to survive in the leprosy
colonies we found in isolated areas. M.E.G also worked
with several other organisations and with Angel Vitamins
helped covered the possible risk of Vitamin A deficiency
by giving out 5,609 of Vitamin A capsules of 50,000
units per capsule twice to all children.
Kindest
regards,
Ruth Tumati,
Chairperson, MEG Foundation Trust, India
6 April, 2005..
I
wish to express my gratitude to all the sponsors by
this very simple word: Thank you.
Thank you for making this possible.
Mary
Ellen Gerber
Founder
