Rebuilding lives: Pondicherry–Cuddalore archdiocese help fishermen find hope after tsunami nightmare

Pondicherry – A new era seem to have dawned on the fishermen village of Devanampattinam on May 8 as 76 fishing boats ventured out into the sea and returned with a huge haul of fish. Normally this would have seemed rather an ordinary event except for the fact that the fishermen of this village, whose lives were left devastated by the December tsunami, were going back to the sea for the first time in over four months.

“It’s like Easter; after destruction and pain, hope in the future is back,” said Archbishop Michael Augustine, Emeritus Archbishop of Pondicherry–Cuddalore, as he recalled the beaming faces of the fishermen who returned with a good catch.

“This is a day of celebration in the village, more than four months after the deadly tsunami,” said Fr. Ratchagar, director of the Pondicherry Multi–Social Service Society (PMSS) that initiated the move of rebuilding the lives of the fishermen of Pondicherry.

“On May 8, 76 boats went out to sea and came back yesterday with a good catch. They didn’t make a lot of money, but what counts is that they recovered a sense of dignity and honor,” he said.

Fr. Ratchagar explained that the reconstruction process under the supervision of the diocese “is going in the right direction.”

“We have undertaken livelihood support in 19 villages in the regions of Pondicherry, Karaikal and Cuddalore,” he said.

In the area, Devanampattinam plays a key role for 62 neighboring villages.

“We are concentrating on this village, the reason being that if this village resumes fishing, the other 62 villages will naturally follow suit,” Fr. Ratchagar said.

In addition, the PMSS has organized after–school programmes and offered special courses for children so that they could make for the time lost as a result of the tragedy.

For Archbishop Augustine, the PMSS’s reconstruction work is wonderful. “Our main mission is to create trust and hope among the victims: fishermen, widows and children,” he said.

The Archbishop added that money is being set aside to encourage people to take in their own orphaned kin during summer break so that the orphans may not feel alone.

The diocese of Pondicherry–Cuddalore has spent so far Rs. 50 lakhs in post–tsunami aid.

But one project though has still not taken off: permanent housing construction. “The state government [of Tamil Nadu] is delaying [the process of] allocating housing sites for permanent houses,” Archbishop Augustine lamented. “The PMSS has been waiting for some time to give these people a decent roof for shelter. This is especially important now that the monsoon season is upon us.”