Sappadu Compassion Project

Update May 2003

India is a country with a rich culture, but its problems are as vast as the country is. More than half of India's one billion inhabitants live under the poverty line and for them famine, unemployment and illiteracy are an obstacle for a better future. Especially the elderly, physically challenged and widows are victims. Unable to play an economic role in Indian society, they form a forgotten group. The Sappadu Compassion Project is actively working for these people in the Auroville bioregion.

The team

The project originated with two Dutch voluntary workers in collaboration with the Auroville Village Action Group AVAG),functioning as a local NGO in the bioregion.

• Ries Korse (54) worked in Holland as a social worker with children and asylum seekers and joined Auroville in 1990. ries@auroville.org.in
• Djoewie Leegwater (48) is a healthcare worker in Holland, who often visits Auroville in order to monitor the Sappadu-projects. She is the contact in The Nederlands and responsible for the fundraising. djoewie@wanadoo.nl
• Local fieldworkers from AVAG do the work on the spot. They are mostly young men who come from the area, speak the language and are familiar with the situation in the villages whose inhabitants have come to trust them. The fieldwork is coordinated by a Tamil couple Morris and Ambu, and by Bhavana, a longtime Aurovilian originally from USA.

Programme

• Rebuilding of houses after a catastrophe, for example a storm or fire. Local youths do the actual building, Sappadu provides money for materials.
• Provision of loans for physically challenged and widows to start small commercial units, like a teashop, typewriting service, tailoring service. Sometimes the loan is used to buy a goat or milk cow. The milk can be sold and thus provides an income.
• Sappadu also helps elderly and disabled persons in getting a pension. Illiteracy and complicated procedures can form insurmountable obstacles for these groups.

After reaching its peak in September 2002, the project went into a near lull for the following six months due to severe financial crisis. Out of the 99 needy people, in the waiting list, only 7 were helped. These aged and handicapped people were on the verge of calamity and needed urgent attention. Funds had to be squeezed out from other sources to help these desperate people. AVAG had foreseen this crisis and had made an urgent request for more funds to the donors in the half yearly report last year.

Iyappan with his team, however, has been trying hard to keep the momentum going. The process of identification of the most disadvantaged people went on as usual. The team has come up with a new list of around 200 aged, handicapped and deserted people waiting for assistance.

Keeping a close watch on the already helped individuals, guiding and encouraging them has been another rigorous task on Iyappan's agenda. The result of this has been praise-worthy. Most of the little businesses started by the project are doing well and almost 90% of the beneficiaries have been regular in paying back the loan. This is a concrete proof that the Sappadu Compassion Project has, to a certain extent, changed their lives. It has probably given them a raison d'être to live and also perhaps, a reason to smile.

Support

In case you would want to support the project, please fill in the form, mentioning the project to which you would like to contribute, i.e. Village-Action Elderly Project Sappadu.

On behalf of our friends in the village, thank you!

Auroville Village Action Group
Irumbai Road
Thiruchitrambalam 605111
INDIA.

Contact: avag@auroville.org.in

If you live in Holland, you also can send your donation to:Stichting Auroville Internationaal Nederland (AVI), Giro 805707, indicating the above mentioned project.