Counseling Centers In Kanyakumari- Tsunami Rehab

Project Brief: Asha Cleveland is supporting counselling centers in the six villages of Kanyakumari district for the Tsunami affected families.
Project Type: Other (description)
Primary Focus: remedial education (description)

Secondary Focus: other

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: Cleveland
Status: completed - requirements ended
Project Steward: Bharadwaj Ananthan
Project Partner(s): Chandravel R. K
Other Contacts: Debasmita Mandal
Project Address: , No:22, Bhimeshwara Nagar, 4th street,Mudichur, Tambaram,Chennai,
TAMIL NADU  600048
Tel: (044) 22762180
Stewarding Chapter: Cleveland
Jun 2005ClevelandUSD 6130

Total = $6130

Asha Cleveland is supporting counselling centers in the six villages of Kanyakumari district for the Tsunami affected families. The six villages include Keelamanakudi, Kottilpadu, Pillaithoppu, Azhikal, Kolichal and Kanyakumari: The breakdown of costs are as listed in the documents section. Counselors are needed in these tsunami affeted villages so that they can can meet with the families and listen to their sorrows and go beyond their emotional trauma to find out the cause of their problems - was it due to the tsunami or was it there before the tsunami disaster? They will interact with the affected families and help in their rehabilitation.
Soon after the Tsunami struck, grass-roots volunteers provided keen insights into the overall relief and rehabilitation operations. These insights led to the formation of a three-part approach to fill in the gaps left behind by the government and the NGOs. Over the past three months, interaction with the community, various NGOs and government officials have re-affirmed these insights and refined them into a concrete strategy for the long-term rehabilitation of Tsunami victims.

The details of this strategy, the current status and upcoming actions are listed on this website. The pervasive key points of this strategy from the initial insights as well as the subsequent refinements are as follows:
* Livelihood options, especially for women are critical.
* Counselling and education for children needs to be provided in a professional and loving manner while leaving a long-lasting positive imprint on local norms, especially the use of innovative learning methods.
* Collaboration with the Govt. and like-minded NGOs is critical. Asha can provide value by "connecting the dots" as well as "filling in the blanks". We also need to leverage existing relationships with NGOs and individuals to make it happen.
* Local ownership and empowerment is the only way to do it.
* Almost everyone will leave in 3-6 months. The community needs partners for the long haul.