We’re still not entirely sure on the numbers of volunteers that will be available, but if you have a few hours to spare, then please, PLEASE come down. I know that this isn’t particularly exciting work and there isn’t the direct feel-good factor that you get when helping at the camps but this work is just as important as it gives us a direction to work in over the coming months and years.

I’m going to do a quick breakdown of the survey, and its sections. Here it is:

We’re going to use census data to make things less confusing for you surveyor-folks. Each survey will have the occupants and a few details of theirs on the front page, to make it easier for me to decode the data.

Household – this is a section that you can fill by combination of simply observing the house (to see the quality of the walls, floor and roof) as well as asking a few simple questions. They’re fairly simple so all you need to do is circle the appropriate answer. It deals with their habitat and habits around it, including the bathroom status and water treatment/storage.

Environment – This deals with water sources for different activities and the source of lighting. It gives us an idea of how the average inhabitants of MGR Nagar are living, what they know about water treatment, and more importantly, what they don’t.

Hygiene – Basic hygiene questions about their washing habits. This is one of the most important segments, since rectifying any unsanitary habits is one of the ways that we can see a reduction in infection rates.

Health – A quick screening survey, just to find out what the prevalence of a few common conditions is like. Additionally, there are a couple of questions on access (where they’ve been and where they would go…both of these are important as we can identify which centres have earned the trust of the slum inhabitants). Rounding out this section are 2 questions: one is on smoking, and the other is on alcohol. In truth, we’re not expecting much statistical data from this, but we think that if anyone is likely to answer ‘yes’ to the alcohol question in particular, then it signifies the trust that we’re building between the people and ourselves. Still, it’s worth including.

Nutrition – Just to find out, roughly, what kind of society we’re looking at. Do they get enough fruits and vegetables? Are they eating enough in terms of calories? Does anyone take any supplements? An estimated 95% of the women will have anaemia. With that in mind…iron tablets, maybe?

Education – Finally, just a few quick questions on the adults’ level of education and whether they’d like to expand on that. Also, a quick note about the kids’ education level. This section is there since we’re trying to judge whether vocational programmes need to be put in place.

That’s about it. I’ll be filling in the front of the forms between 9pm tonight and tomorrow, so I hope you guys understood some of what was said above. I hope to see you tomorrow! Toodle pip!

• Survey Form
• Survey Handout
• Consent Form

The first site is directly across the site of our old project site. Approaching Porur from Guindy, it is seen on the left, just before MIOT hospital.

The second site, MG Nagar Slum, is located down the street from the site of the old project site; it is reached by following the road.

View map (.jpg)

You can also view the sites on Google Earth: Project Site A, MG Nagar Slum

Ramavaram is an urban slum just off of the Nandambakkam highway. There are 110 houses with approximately 400 residents at Ramavaram, most of whom are daily wage earners supporting women, infants, young children and the aged. Starting March 2008, a group of students and young professionals under the name Sangam India had taken up the initiative of helping the community earn back their dignity and quality of life. However, tragedy struck us early Monday morning when news arrived that the entire slum had caught fire and had been razed to the ground in a matter of hours.

At 1:30am on Monday 15th June, one of the houses close to the highway bridge caught on fire from a short circuit. The fire quickly raged through, consuming one house after another, abetted by thatched roofs and trees. The inhabitants hurriedly escaped their homes and gathered onto the street nearby. Luckily no one suffered any injuries. According to the inhabitants, the fire engine arrived at 3 am, but by then the whole slum and all their savings and belongings had been destroyed.

We heard of the shocking news at 9am and made an emergency visit to Ramavaram at 4pm. A group of about 25 of us visited them and listened to their devastating experience. There was nothing left of the slum but the mud walls that supported the houses a feet above the ground. The people seemed to be in a state of utter hopelessness, completely unsure of what was to happen to them and where they were to move next. As we talked to them we were able to gather some information about the government response. The Ward Counsellor had arrived early and distributed breakfast packets and water tanks for the entire slum population. The Panchayat House had made arrangements for lunch and dinner. The government had handed over Rs. 2000/-, 5 kg of rice, a kerosene coupon, and a saree and a lungi to each family of the slum.

The families were to assume temporary shelter at an auditorium nearby. Meanwhile, the government has promised to rebuild them a slum at Perungalathur, near Tambaram, some 25kms from Ramavaram and that was understood to take 3 days for completion. The inhabitants are unsure if any arrangement for meals has been made for the next few days. They do not have any clothes but the ones in which they escaped the fire. They have lost their money and the children have lost their school uniforms and books. All medical records and other documents have also been destroyed.

After assessing the situation at Ramavaram, we decided to act immediately to help the families. Some of us stayed back to listen and talk to the people offering our support, while some went out to buy basic necessities. We decided to buy and distribute to each family, a packet of Marie Gold Biscuits, a sheet, a bucket, toothpowder and soap. By 7pm we were able to buy the biscuits, sheets and place the order for buckets but we had to postpone distribution as it got too dark to carry on.

An emergency meeting was convened at 7:30pm where we shared the stories of the people and discussed their situation and immediate needs. Below is a summary of the meeting.

The situation:
No roofs above their heads, no clothes, no remaining savings.
Food and water for the day provided.
Food and water for next few days uncertain.
Slight drizzle early in the evening.

The people:
Low morale, vulnerable babies, poor hygiene and sanitation facilities.

The government response:
Rs.2000/-, a veshti and a lungi distributed to each family.
Food and water arrangements made for Day 1.
Temporary shelter – unviable
Rehabilitation – will take 3-4days, is 25kms away and quality of life uncertain.
Police patrolling present.

Our immediate Plan of Action:
Distribute the following items, 1 per family.
Day 1: Only morale and emotional support
Day 2: Marie Gold Biscuits
Bedsheet
Bucket
Toothpowder
Soap
Constitute a Disaster Management Team to plan and develop rehabilitation activities.
Constitute a Fund-raiser Team to undertake massive fund-raising over the next few days.
Boost the Public Relations Committee to help spread the word and garner help.

Immediate Future:
utensils and some other basic necessities like rice or oil. Needs will be assessed and decisions made.
Organize clothes drive – clothes for men, women and children.
Sponsor families.
Sponsor uniforms and books for the school-going children.
Provide moral support and be physically and emotionally present in their time of need.

How You Can Help
Sangam India boasts over 300 members worldwide, and right now is the time for those 300 members to come together to help our friends. Here are some ways you can immediately help:

1. We need funds. If you are interested in sending money from outside India, please contact Sujan Pakala at sujan.pakala@gmail.com. He will be handling all donations. Within India, please contact Navya at nchundu@gmail.com. If you have any ideas for fundraising, please run those by Navya as well.
2. We have clothing coming from the US on July 20, but in the meantime we need to run an emergency clothing drive so we can supply each family with at least one more set of clothes from what the government has given. They have not provided children’s clothes, leaving the children with only undergarments. If you are within India, please gather together usable clothes. You can contact Jaba at 91 9940661886.
3. We need our legal team to be fully functional. For us to be able to help these families to the best of our ability, we need to increase our legal standing. We really need people to donate some time to this. If you are a lawyer, or know a lawyer, or are willing to help work through some paperwork, please contact Navyatha at navyatha.mohan@gmail.com.
4. We need you to spread the word. Please tell everyone. Use every modality you have – Facebook, email, instant messenger, SMS, phone calls – to inform your friends of our needs. If you have any PR questions, please contact Priyanka at priyanka.boghani@sangamindia.org.

• Educational Programme – We have plans to continue the educational programme that started last March in operation throughout May. It will be run by the members who are still in Chennai. However, we are short-staffed and we could use all the help we could get. Please send us an email at info@sangamindia.org if you can volunteer your time, on a weekend, for just a few hours. During this month we will hold the same programme but it may be simplified due to the reduced staff on hand. Nonetheless we are committed to maintaining our relationship with the community and to making sure the children will still have our company. Stay tuned on this blog with more exact details of upcoming visits.
• Research – During May, a lot of our members will be doing extensive research on various things in order to advance our work. This will range from talking to other NGOs in people’s hometowns, researching educational opportunities, vocational training programmes, and legal research to advance Sangam India to NGO status.
• Skits – A number of volunteers from Dallas, Texas, have written a series of wonderful skits demonstrating various human values. We hope to teach these to the children of Ramavaram when we get back and we need help with translating them from English to colloquial Tamil. If you can help with this, please let us know.

The Promotional Packet contains the following:

• Sangam India English Flyer
• nXG: “Youngistan in Action” article
• Times of India: “Coming Together for Health” article
• Times of India: “Sangam India holds health camp for kids”
• The Women’s International Perspective: “Students in India Take Social Change into Their Own Hands”
• Kumudam article, in Tamil and with English translation
• Anand Charity: “Building a better India, slum by slum”
• A selection of photographs from the last year.

It is attached here as a pdf file. It is designed to print on A4 size paper (if you should need a 8.5 x 11 format, please contact us and we can prepare one.)

Download the Promotional Packet (8.94MB)

edit: this should print well on both size A4 and 8.5 x 11 paper.
Additionally, a promotional e-packet is not available for easy on-line viewing.

The following is the new organization structure of Sangam India.

The group will be divided into Groundwork and an Administrative wings.

1. Groundwork
   1. Groundwork Chairperson
      • Manage community work
      • Oversee community relations.
   2. Departments
      1. Event Coordinator
         • Plan events
         • Maintain calendar
         • Coordinate volunteers and other staff
         • Work with PR for advertising
         • Work with Community Liaison for planning within the community.
      2. Infrastructure Coordinator
         • Sanitation
         • Education
           • Adult
           • Children
         • Living conditions
         • Non-camp health care
         • Curriculum development (with event coordinator)
         • Vocational training
         • Organize periodic focus groups with community members
         • Assign members to each family and ensure that proper care is being taken
         • Convey community and requirements to the rest of the organization.
      3. Community Liaison

2. Administrative
   1. Administrative Chairperson
      • Ensure that financial records are being maintained
      • Keep track of legal issues
      • Review records
      • Keep member records
   2. Departments:
      1. Financial
         • Appoint a committee
         • Maintain, manage and allocate funds
         • Must keep impeccable records
         • Open and manage bank account
      2. Legal
         • NGO Status
         • FCRA
         • Land issues
      3. Human Relations
         • Appoint an internal relations officer and a public relations officer
         • Must handle facebook, email, newsletter, blog
         • Handle media

The positions will be changed on a regular basis. The positions for the current year will be described in the next post along with contact information and meeting times.

After reaching Kathipara Junction travel down Butt Road and turn right to Mount Poonamallee Road (towards Porur.)

Travel for about two kilometers. You will come across the bridge. Beyond the bridge is MIOT Hospitals. The Ramavaram slum is located before this bridge and is the immediate right before it.

View Larger Map | View in Google Earth (.kmz)
This information will be posted at http://www.sangamindia.org/ramavaramdirections.html.

1. Encouraging sale of the craft work done by the women and children in the slum ,not in traffic jams and at signals, but at one spot, possibly outside of a temple or near tourist spots.

2.Providing the men with pushcarts on which they can sell vegetables and fruits or even iron clothes in nearby residential areas.

3.Getting men jobs as security guards.

4.Getting cleaning jobs for both the men and women.

This is what we have so far but our effort does not do it. We have to convince these people to go out and work. Their biggest problem is that they are too content doing nothing! Even after providing them with opportunities, we have to ensure that they will attend training classes and show up to work daily. This is what we plan to achieve.

Now, moving on to how we are going to achieve this, while research on vocational training institutes is on, internet searches are not yielding very good results. All I’ve been able to get so far is a vocational training institute for women run by the the “Andhra Mahila Sabha” in Mylapore. Their contact is 24994761/ 52168979.I suggest that someone who is living in Chennai get in touch with someone at this institute and find out the necessary details like courses available, fees, admission criteria etc. Also, please do enquire about other such institutes in Chennai irrespective of whether you are a part of this committee or not.

Those of you who have more ideas please e-mail me on shilpamenon111@hotmail.com.

However, the booming Indian economy has left many behind, even in the areas where its growth is maximal. A prime example is the Ramavaram slum. When driving down Poonamallee High Road, one passes over a bridge on the way to Porur. Looking down, one sees the brackish, sewage-filled Adyar River. On the banks of this river are the thatch houses of the Ramavaram slum. Looking over the bridge, one can see the residents of the slum washing their clothes in the river water.

Click here to view in Google Earth (.kmz)

The slum is home to about 500 people living in 90 houses. Most of the adults have minimal or no educational background, and none of them have stable employment or an employable skill set. They have unsteady jobs which are highly vulnerable to fluxes in the local economy.

Most of the women in the slum have minimal education and are illiterate. Married at young ages, they have migrated to the slum with their families. Many are very young mothers, and though they receive a modicum of health care, they are not knowledgeable about basic aspects of child care, nutrition, or family planning. Quite a few women do not receive adequate prenatal care and cannot acquire procedures such as cesarean sections.

The children of the slum, who constitute about half of the population, live in an overcrowded area. Younger children run around the slum without any clothes and are visibly malnourished. Though many of the children go to school, most of them stop by the fifth standard of class and do not continue. Instead, they join the workforce and take on adult responsibilities at very young ages. They often do not receive the minimum of immunizations as recommended by the Indian Institute of Paediatrics. Some of them have unattended conditions requiring medical or surgical treatment such as chronic otitis media (ear infections) and cleft lips.

One of the major problems in the slum is basic sanitation and hygiene. They do not treat their water before using it for consumption. They receive it in a tank, provided by the government, which they use for cooking and drinking. However, for all other purposes – bathing, defecation, urination, handwashing, dishwashing and laundry – they use the river water, which represents a significant public health threat.

In our work at Ramavaram, we want to improve the health status and economic condition of the residents of the slum. We plan to promote the health status through education and through implementation of public health measures. We plan on improving the economic conditions of the community through the promotion of children’s education as well as vocational training for the older residents. We have a number of programs currently in development and we hope we can make a significant difference in their lives.