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CWS appeal: Post-tsunami rehabilitation for Dalit communities (India)

Members of the village of Velu Nagar, where a community of 15 Dalit families live. CASA is assisting this village with housing construction and livestock. Other Dalit villages will soon receive housing assistance, as well. Photo: Chris Herlinger / CWS

November 30, 2007

The December 2004 tsunami that struck the southern Indian coast heavily affected the state of Tamil Nadu, with the majority of those affected being fisher-folk who lived close to the sea. Also affected were members of Dalit communities, who have long faced discrimination in India. While their homes were not completely washed away -- Dalit communities tend to be located further from the sea itself -- the Dalits have been seriously affected because they both lost livelihoods and do not own any cultivable land but work for daily wages in agriculture or fishing.

The tsunami inundated the agricultural lands the Dalits work on and significantly reduced productivity. Despite the drop in productivity the Dalits still have to provide the same payment to the landlords that they did previously.

Entrenched social discrimination on the basis of gender, caste and class has caused further marginalized the Dalits. Many people have also been left out of the rehabilitation process due to contested/denied legal entitlements -- many Dalits do not hold any land documents.

Church World Service is supporting the efforts of long-time CWS partner Churches Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), India.

CWS-supported program response objectives are: to provide 1,380 Dalit families disaster resistant housing in the districts of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin; to build three multipurpose community centers in these communities that can be used as shelters during any future emergencies; to construct three recreational parks; to repair/reconstruct community infrastructure, including roads and village gates.

Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be made online, sent to your denomination, or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation For Dalit Communities (#6996).