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| During the months of
May and June 2005 some of us went to Europe for the vacations. Very
motivated volunteers came to help Pondy Fishermen. Thanks to
those new energies and the tenacity of Lionel, Martine and Maguey, our
association has maintained a great momentum and carried out its
operations at a sustained pace. On Tuesday 2 August, benefiting from Maguey’s reconnoitring we went to three laguna fishermen’s villages : two in the Cuddalore district and one in that of Chidanbaram. |
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We first
called at Pethankuppam, a village numbering 225 families.
This area has suffered from the Tsunami, for the paddy fields were
overrun by the wave and the soil impregnated with salt ; at the moment
all is dried up and parched by the salt and the sun and there is no
prospect of crops until the desalination takes place … perhaps after
two or three monsoons.  |
| Pethankuppam It is a large village which has received little aid, for it has been considered as belonging to the farmers’ caste for several generations.Once more it is thanks to Maguey’s very thorough reconnaissance work that we could reach those outcasts. The village has not been recorded by the authorities among the victims of the Tsunami on account of its original classification ! In fact, to subsist, most of those farming folks have become laguna fishermen … and consequently they are twice victims of the catastrophe : no longer having boats they cannot go fishing, and the salt-impregnated paddy fields grow no crops. ! This situation led us to propose the Pondy-Fishermen programme for the building of 60 laguna boats as the urgency remains the rebuilding of the fishing fleet. This population lives on a mixed economy consisting of fishing and farming. At the moment, fishing is impossible on account of the destruction of the boats and farming does not produce anything on account of the salinity of the soil. |
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The presentation of the Charter to the village was
scheduled on Tuesday |
They were waiting for us and we felt this population was eagerly
requesting help. |
| Pondycherry-born Raji Parisot, the representative of a French-based charity which serves as a cultural and economic intermediary with the city corporation of Strasbourg, was present and enabled us to communicate in Tamil with the groups of men and women who were there.  |
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| The Charter was accepted by the Panchayat Venkakesan on behalf of the village. The name-lists of the prospective boat-builders (four groups of people working by turns) as well as that of the women in charge of the Co-operative will be handed over to Maguey within the end of the week. |
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| The village chief also approached us over
food aid and requested that we should take we should take charge of a
group of widows without means of support. To aid this mixed-economy population on a longer-term we have thought we could integrate a few animals into the Co-operative - cattle and sheep - which will ensure the creation of a small herd whose milk the women could sell within the dairy co-operatives of the neighbourhood, enabling them to earn a small income to make it possible for this village to regain its autonomy and economic equilibrium. Some French volunteers who are acquainted with livestock-breeding are already dealing with the matter. |
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We have
also taken up the question of the children’s education ; 185 children
are attending school, including 70 at the small school
of the village.Pondy-School is to be involved in the provision of
school uniforms and to make sure some children have not been withdrawn
from school because of their parents’
lack of means. |
| Thus, it is a very important programme that has been set in train with the village of Pethankuppam and which is now entering into its stage of implementation. |
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