Kurnool – Rebuilding hope after the floods

The heavy downpour of rain didn’t show signs of dwindling. It had rained continuously for 5 days and the people of Panchilangala were very tense. Abdul Rahman and his wife Mahboob-bi were very worried, it had been days since Abdul could go to work and they were running out of supplies to keep them going. They have two children Anwar and Khajabi.

 

Khajabi had not imagined that the rain could be the cause of so many problems for them. It had been days since they could go out to play or to school to study. Khajabi is ten years old, she studies in Class 5 in the Urdu School. As Khajabi looked up at the ceiling she wondered, ‘When is this rain going to end?’ She was afraid of the dark; the house had plunged in darkness after the supply of electricity got cut off. She could sense her parent’s uneasiness… something was terribly wrong.

 

As the night wore off and daylight appeared, their hopes too began to rise as the rain slowly came to a stop. When the villagers ventured outside they found that there was too much water around. In their panic they packed whatever they could and began moving in their lookout for higher ground. Soon a huge crowd could be seen moving frantically, their fear written all over the faces.

 

As Khajabi passed her school, she felt terrible to see it submerged in water. Only the top of the school was visible. As memories of her friends and time spent in school came back to her, she felt very sad. She wondered when she would be able to go to school and play there once again.

 

The people of Panchilangala village stayed on the state Highway for 7days. OBI and other NGO’s provided them with food during this time. As the flood waters receded the villagers came back to their homes. They were shocked and sad to see all their houses filled with mud and dirt. They wasted no time to start cleaning their homes. It was a work that took a lot of effort and money. There was a severe threat of malaria and many other diseases due to the stagnant water collected there. Operation Blessing conducted medical camps in Panchilangala and many affected areas.

 

The Urdu High School, Khajabi’s school was in a big mess. Its walls were totally discolored and damaged and there was slush and dirt all around the school campus. The children who came to school, went back to their homes totally disappointed. There was no one there to take care of the school and clean and repair it. As the Operation Blessing team realized this they swung into action. The school was thoroughly cleaned, its walls were whitewashed, a new fence was constructed and the doors and windows were painted too. Black boards repaired and painted, new charts put upon the walls The whole school had a totally new look.

 

Besides repairing the school building also gave the children new bags, books, stationery and play materials. Operation Blessing also provided the villagers new dustbins and buckets. The team also educated the children on Health and Hygiene while teaching them to keep their surroundings clean and green. Plants saplings were planted and the children were instructed how to take care of them. Operation Blessing also undertook fogging and vector control to keep the areas malaria-free.

 

Khajabi was the happiest child to receive her new bag and books. Her face shone with delight as she saw the new look of her school. With a shy and endearing smile she said, “Thank you for fixing our school for us. I can now go to school again! I thought I had lost all my books and my school too! I am very happy you gave me my school back.”

 

Ninety five percent of the people of Panchilangala and the surrounding villages are from the Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Communities. Their main source of income is daily labor. Most of the villagers lost their shelter completely; the floods also affected their livelihood. Knowing that it would take Khajabi’s father some time before he can get himself an income, OBI gave her family one month’s rations to help them tide over the crisis.

 

Summary of Flood Relief till 30^th November ’09 Work is still going

 

Ø      6855 flood affected people were treated in 32 camps around Kurnool, Mahaboobnagar and Vijayawada regions of Andhra Pradesh state.

 

Ø      1657 Emergency Relief Packages (ERP) (Food grains, basic utensils, mat, clothes, soaps, and mosquito nets) were given to flood affected families.

 

Ø       21580 Food packets were distributed to the flood victims.

 

Ø      Drinking water purification tablets (Chlorine) were give to 1288 families.

 

Ø      1200 families benefited from fogging and spraying vector control (Anti Malarial) 

 

Ø      Renovation of 12 schools in progress, 1200 children to benefit from it.