Kerala flood relief: The tribals are now able to rebuild and sustain, thanks to endless efforts of volunteers led by Amal Thamby.
Kerala floods showed the world how a natural disaster could ruin livelihood for thousands of people in one sweep. However, thanks to kind souls such as Amal Thamby and his group of volunteers, several tribals have been able to sustain and rebuild their broken lives. Amal Thamby has created a digital portal to allow people around the world to send in donations, which will be and have been used to help Bavali tribe in Kerala.
"After completing the first stage of relief activity at Bavali tribal hamlet, our team felt happy, but not content. It was evident, from the minute we stepped into the hamlet that it's not food materials or new clothes that will solve the problem. We supplied food items and warm clothing, which we took along, and proceeded with flex sheets for covering the huts in the hamlet. Our team worked enthusiastically to complete 13 huts in a day," said Amal Thamby, speaking about his journey with the tribes.
The digital portal has now successfully collected over Rs 77,000, with people selflessly contributing from around the globe.
Speaking about the difficulties faced during the process of rebuilding, the volunteers expressed, "A permanent structure can't be constructed as the land belongs to the forest department. The idea of construction was initiated keeping in mind the interests of the tribal community and also the forest department. The best possible, practical way to achieve this was by using all natural materials for construction of these homes, which comply with the non-permanent building policy within the forest land."
After surveying and analysing the roadblocks of the tribal area, the volunteers planned to build new houses using materials that do not harm the forest and its natural habitat. The houses that were earlier built were made of extremely weak material, such as bamboo sticks and mud which cannot withstand torrential rains such as the one Kerala faced. Worse, each hut measured just 2m x 2m, which accommodated around 2-3 families each.
"The fund raised through the program will be utilised completely for this purpose that will provide shade and shelter to every family in these hamlets. This could turn out into a model hamlet for the tribal communities all over the world," the volunteers said, clarifying the use of these funds.
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