To donate: http://www.justgiving.com/odisha-cyclone-rehabilitation On the 12th October 2013, Cyclone Phalin hit the eastern coast of India, which directly affected fourteen districts in Orissa, one of the poorest states in India. This included the northern district of Balasore, which is the home of ARM where Arpita Raksit conducted her women’s empowerment project during the Indicorps fellowship. Initial assessment of the damage calculates that approximately 1,725 villages and 480,000 people have been affected and it has destroyed 215,000 livestock, 25,000 houses and 68,000 crop areas. Many of the families live in ‘kutcha’ mud houses and are reliant upon subsistence farming to maintain a livelihood; therefore the aftermath of the cyclone has placed the entire area in a critical situation. The flood has also inadvertently caused wider socio-economic problems, primarily to health and education, where flood victims are using schools and hospitals as relief camps. Victims are at high health risks due to the spread of waterborne diseases, malaria, acute respiratory infections, and other medical problems caused by exposure to damp weather conditions. Women, in particular, share a common vulnerability in that they often lack the skills and knowledge to help themselves in emergency situations. Furthermore, women have limited access to common property resources and to ownership of land compared to their male counterparts. Single women (widows, separated women) also face problems in accessing relief support. Landless sharecroppers are highly vulnerable as they pay rent for land before sowing their crops to landowners. With the crop failure of Kharif paddy (major crop of the area and staple food), they have lost their share of the crop as well as work. In the coastal districts, families are heavily reliant upon fishing, both earning from it and feeding their families. The cyclone has damaged the majority of fishing boats and nets, leaving families without a source of livelihood. Furthermore, many of the longer term development programmes that were being conducted by ARM, such as better farming practices, improving school retention and women’s empowerment have had to be put on hold, causing a major step back to much of the progress made over the past years. ARM is experienced in flood relief as well as community-based rehabilitation programmes, including formation and training of Task Forces. Past programmes have clearly demonstrated their expertise and effectiveness in emergency situations. ARM responded immediately to the disaster through its network of community based organisations. Collectively, they deployed an emergency disaster team for assessment of the situation and identifying priority panchayats hit by flooding in their district. ARM has calculated that £470,000 will be needed to carry out a more sustainable rehabilitation programme, helping a total of 120 villages in 18 Gram Panchayats who have communities with the weakest coping capacities. This will address shelter issues, where houses will be built from materials more resilient to extreme weather, help rebuild the livelihood sources for farmers through provision of seeds, equip fishermen with new nets and boats, and build roads made from cement rather than mud so that wider trade and labour networks can be established. To help prepare for future disaster, ARM also aim to build a stockpile of tarpualin for immediate shelter relief and hold seed fairs to strengthen the development of seed banks. The project will also focus on longer term behavioural changes such as health awareness camps encouraging people to use toilets rather than open areas to prevent the spread of disease. We aim to work with ARM over the next few months and think of other ways to mitigate effects of flood and cyclones and to prevent future shock. This is a large scale project and we therefore call upon the help of grant makers (or friends of grant makers) to connect with us and consider how we can best support the rehabilitation of this district. If you are/know anyone with the capacity to help – we welcome your introduction. We will provide all supporters with updates of the improvement your help has made to the community during this rehabilitation phase, which may take the form of photos, videos and short reports. We thank you in advance for your support. Arpita Raksit http://www.connectindia.org/odisha-cyclone-rehabilitation/