AMU continues its commitment to accompany the recovery of communities affected by the 2018 flood in Kerala and the 2019 flood in Maharastra, in the southern part of India.
The accounts of the local representatives of the Focolare Movement , in those days and even months later, are alarming: immediately there were over 400 victims and over ten thousand displaced people , with countless homes and infrastructures destroyed due to the force of the water. Thanks to the support of donors, the Emergency Coordination of the Focolare Movement has helped to guarantee safe shelter and dignified living conditions to families whose condition of extreme vulnerability has been exacerbated by the difficulties caused by the floods . Among the interventions carried out, in February 2020 we concluded the one in support of the Project Vision project of the charity organization of the Claretian Missionary Fathers of the Province of Bangalore HOPE ANTI ADDICTION ACTION GROUP (HAAAG). The actions were concentrated in the district of Wayanad, 300 km from Bangalore, where heavy rainfall caused numerous landslides and hundreds of temporary homes, built with mud, were completely destroyed . To respond to the primary needs of the community, in a first phase HAAAG set up a base camp with its own funds, distributed 500 relief kits, food products, blankets and clothing. In a second phase, with the intervention of the Emergency Coordination, a project was started to build three permanent housing units for three families excluded from government reconstruction programs and in need due to precarious living conditions and the presence of children, elderly and disabled people in the family unit. The construction work involved the entire surrounding community: local families were involved by distributing meals to the workers, the beneficiaries of the project were supported in the bureaucratic procedures for obtaining ownership certificates for the new homes, for accessing the lists for obtaining government subsidies and for finding jobs in the agricultural and livestock farming fields. The houses, consisting of two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen, were delivered to the families on July 7, 2019.
Since the launch of the fundraiser, €36,159.13 in contributions have been raised for the Kerala emergency and, to date, we have used €23,751.35. Following a subsequent flood emergency in India, an additional €13,485.60 has been used for the renovation of the Prarthana Kendra, a social center for interfaith dialogue destroyed by the floods.
The commitment of the AMU and the Emergency Coordination continues and, currently, the use of some remaining funds for interventions related to the Covid19 emergency is being verified.