Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by MSW students of ADBU 2018 A report on Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by 3rd MSW students Assam Don Bosco University, 2018 1 Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by MSW students of ADBU 2018 Assembly Report on the 29th October, 2018 On behalf of the Social Work Department of Assam Don Bosco University, I stand here to bring greetings from Kerala and to express our gratitude for your generous contribution during the times of crisis in Kerala. I stand here to share with you a brief report on the nearly one month long continuous fieldwork trip of the MSW 3rd semester students to Kerala. The journey began with the fund raising in both Tapesia and Azara campuses of ADBU, which was initiated by Asst. Prof. Victor Narzary of the Department of Social Work, along with the active participation of the MSW 1st Semester students. A total, the contribution from Tapesia Campus was Rs. 83,000/- and from Azara Campus and the gracious contribution received from Fr. Dr. Stephen Mavely of Rs. 17,000. Thus a total of Rs 1, 00,000/-. One Lakh. The entire funds collected were then forwarded to Don Bosco Institutions of Sultan Bathery in Wayanad District and Don Bosco Institution, Vaduthala in Ernakulam District. The funds were distributed to 20 families of flood victims for rehabilitation works in the presence of ADBU students. In their fieldwork, the students, who numbered 11 in total, participated in the following activities: 1. Visit to various families and communities that were affected by the floods and landslides. 2. Attending the Rural Camp in Kannur District, Kadumeni village with Don Bosco College Sultan Bathery 1st Semester BSW and MSW students with an objective of understanding the flood victims after the events and involving in the rural community in Kerala. 3. Visit to educational institutions of St. Albert’s College, Rajagiri College and St. Thomas HS School which were converted into relief camps during the flood. The ADBU students had an exchange of ideas and culture between the students of the college and school. 2 Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by MSW students of ADBU 2018 4. Organisational visits to Pallaruthy Relief Settlement, Sneha Bhavan Palluruthy, Don Bosco Boy’s Home, the Don Bosco Psychosocial Training Centre and Capernaum Charitable Trust. 5. Manual work in the communities with the purpose of contributing towards the rehabilitation of the affected families. 6. Visit to historically and ecologically important places in the state. From the fieldwork in Kerala, the team would like to share the following most important learnings and reflections: 1. Social media can be a major tool in spreading credible information during a disaster such as flood. In Kerala it was the college students and youngsters who really supported people with various social media such as Whats App, Facebook, etc. 2. The community as a whole really came together in a spirit of community and humanity when it came to in helping each other in the aftermath of the flood and during the flood, which was exemplified by fishermen rescuing thousands of people in the floods and the school children and youngsters moving to different parts of the states in helping the needy families cleaning the houses and providing very essential materials to people especially the poor. 3. There was equity in the distribution of the government aid to the flood and landslide victims, such as the tribals receiving a larger amount of monetary aid. 4. The people brought out their creativity in the times of crisis, this can be seen by their efforts to uplift each other’s spirits, using social media to communicate properly, using portable batteries to charge their phones and even having an Onam Festival in the camp. We are grateful to the fathers and the community members of Don Bosco Sulthan Bathery College and Don Bosco Vaduthala, Kochi. We also would like to thank ADBU, starting with Fr. Dr. Stephen Mavely VC, and the department of social work a special word of thank you 3 Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by MSW students of ADBU 2018 Dr. Lukose, Sir Victor, Fr. Johnson K.P. who coordinated the programme and guided us at every stage of our visit to Kerala. Once again, a sincere word of thank you to all of our dear faculty members and students, who contributed much to this cause. Thank you to one and all, have a nice day. Reported by Lambinus Raliang 3rd MSW Detailed report Introduction Kerala is a state on the South-western, Malabar Coast of India. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. It is also known as 'God's Own Country, Spice Garden of India, and the Land of Coconuts'. It is the thirteenth-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts: the north of Kerala consists of Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode ; the Central Kerala districts of Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki and the South Kerala districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram(state capital). Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. According to the 2011 census, Kerala has the highest literacy rate of 93.91%, the the highest life expectancy with an average of 77 years; and the highest sex ratio, 1,084 women per 1,000 men. Kerala is home to 43 large dams with a collective capacity of nearly 7 trillion litres. The Dams are used to manage rivers, storing their water, adjusting flows and redirecting channels. In 1924, Kerala faced a combination of heavy rain and a breached dam triggered deadly floods that claimed 1,000 lives. Now, 94 years later history has repeated itself, killing at least 370 people, displaced 780,000 and caused ₹ 50,000 crore worth of damage. Besides the dams there were also other man made issues of quarrying and urban development that contributed to the fatalities. These activities led to landslides in Idukki, Thrissur, Wayanard and Kollam. For the continuous fieldwork the student social workers focused on two main districts: Wayanard and Ernakulam District. Wayanad is a district in the north-east of Kerala state, India with headquarters at the town of Kalpetta. The district is 3.79% urbanised, with three municipal towns Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery. Ernakulam refers to the 4 Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by MSW students of ADBU 2018 eastern, mainland portion of the city of Kochi in central Kerala. These two districts were chosen as there were towns within the districts that were badly affected by the floods. Details of contributed funds Fund raising was done by Assam Don Bosco Uiversity students and staff in Tapesia campus for Kerala flood victims and the fund raising was spearheaded by Sir Victor and other social work department faculty and 1st Semester MSW students. The students and faculty of ADBU contributed Rs. 83,000/- Fr. Dr. Stephen Mavely, Vice Chancellor made a contribution of Rs. 13,000/-. And thus bringing the grand total to Rs. 1, 00,000/- for Kerala. The fund was distributed between Don Bosco College, Sultan Bathery in Wayanad and Don Bosco Vaduthala in Ernakulam and distributed between 20 families, in the presence of the 11 volunteers of ADBU students of MSW 3rd semester. These funds would go towards the rehabilitation of the affected families affected by the flood and landslides. MAJOR ACTIVITIES Pre-planning Prior to the field work in Kerala, the student social workers had to prepare themselves for their fieldwork as it was focused on a major disaster that the student social workers were unfamiliar with the intensity of the calamity. The preparations started with the fundraising which was initiated by Sir Victor Narzary and the student social workers of the first semester. The students went through a selection process, which was an interview, conducted by the department and as a result 11 volunteers were selected to go to Kerala. The selected students from the 3rd semester MSW were oriented by the Faculty members of Social Work department, which helped the students to get ready with their mind and heart for it. The preparations started with several meetings with Fr. Johnson, field supervisor who guided the team throughout the process of how to reach Kerala, the tentative plans for 5 Flood Relief Response Programmes in Kerala by MSW students of ADBU 2018 the duration of their stay in Kerala and how to go about the entire process to accomplish various objectives. A class on Disaster management was taken by Fr. Johnson K.P. Dr. Lukose P.J took class on how to address the particular situations where people have lost all their belongings and have been traumatized by the sudden incident. Dr. Jacob and Ms Inam also shared their knowledge on Kerala and flood in general and motivated the volunteers. Before they left for their fieldwork they had the final meeting with the MSW 1st Semesters, along with the faculty and Fr. Dr.Stephen Mavely, Vice Chancellor, to inform him about the amount collected and to brief him on the activities that will be conducted in Wayanad and Ernakulam District, Kerala. The journey from the railway station in Guwahati to the city of Bangalore took a total of three days and two nights in the train. The train went through the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The students were received by Don Bosco fathers at Bangalore Railway station on 18th of September and on that day evening the team left for Don Bosco Sulthan Bathery, Wayanad and reached the destination on the next day early morning.