Post–tsunami, Church agencies, others set up orphanages, step up rehabilitation efforts

Chennai – In the wake of the devastating tsunami waves that inundated coastal regions of southern India and claimed over 14,000 lives, Christian relief agencies and other organizations have stepped up efforts in reconstruction and rehabilitation programs in an attempt to help the tsunami survivors rebuild their lives.

Leading the group of relief agencies across India are the church–run organizations such as the Caritas, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), World Vision and the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA – the social and relief arm of 24 Protestant and Orthodox Churches in India, including the Church of North India) that are coordinating with local dioceses, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to provide special aid for the tsunami hit people.

The thrust of the humanitarian program is on food, medicines and life–saving medical assistance for communities and families, water and sanitation through access to clean water and latrines, non–food items and family survival kits (soap, cooking utensils, sleeping mats, water cans, plastic sheeting), shelter and materials for temporary shelter that are adaptable for later use and rehabilitation of livelihoods through resources and tools for long–term recovery.

Though analysts say that the tsunami–affected regions may take years to recover, yet, the enormity of the devastation has not deterred the relief agencies. In fact, rehabilitation measures are gathering momentum in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and many business houses and organizations are even coming forward to help the tsunami survivors, especially the orphans.

Many leading business houses, IT companies, religious organizations and celebrities are generously donating funds to a number of church–run organizations asking them to take care of the children orphaned by the tsunami.

Indian government's Central Adoption Resource Agency has so far declined requests for adoption by foreigners for tsunami children. “One of the most difficult things for a child is change. Not even a single child has been sent out for adoption, that is not our policy,” said Aloma Lobo, secretary of the adoption agency.

Indian laws insist that couples that want children to adopt should get the consent of the children. This clause in the law has disappointed many couples, some of them foreigners, who expressed their keenness to adopt the country’s tsunami orphans.

A number of church–run organizations, children’s homes and the state governments like Tamil Nadu government have now taken the lead in taking care of the tsunami orphans. The Tamil Nadu government has already set up three orphanages in the state to bring up the tsunami children.

This decision came amid rumors that child–trafficking has become rampant in the tsunami–affected areas, the main reason being the government aid that will be made available to the orphans. In fact, recently, a UNICEF representative in Nagappattinam, Tamil Nadu narrated the horrifying story of a man who claimed to be an orphan’s uncle only to be unmasked by the child’s refusal to go with him.

Many individuals, including Bishop Elio Sgreccia, the newly appointed president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, have strongly denounced the "traffic in human lives" that has arisen in the tsunami–affected regions.