Many fishermen are still missing months after a powerful storm struck the country’s southern coast. Initially, nobody knew the impact of the cyclone. Then we heard claims of 1000 fishermen having gone missing. So we decided to find out what was happening. Our four–member team visited Chinnathurai, a fishing village in Tamil; Nadu that is thought to have lost most men at sea.
The devastation and death caused by Cyclone Ockhi as it whirled past the southern tip of India on November 30 is yet to be enumerated. Hundreds of fishermen in mostly rudimentary boats were caught in heavy seas and winds of up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour.The fisherfolk were praying for their loved ones who went missing after Cyclone Ockhi tore through the Indian ocean on November 30, capsizing boats and bringing down homes.
Almost two month after the cyclone wreaked havoc in the southern tip of the country, scores of fishermen have not come back from the sea. Back home, families are torn between hope and despair as they clutch pictures of the missing men. We found it hard to not get overwhelmed by the grief and assume our role as empathetic listeners to their pains.
One thing that’s very important at times like this is building a rapport between the people affected and identifying those who have lost the most. We were fortunate to catch up with a Catholic nun, Sister Reji who is doing most of the information gathering and reaching out to the fishermen and their families. Reji is a real go-getter and she knows how these people think and act. She also knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of aid and assistance and the red tape and lengthy process that can be involved so she really gets things moving.
Sis Reji said this was the first day that some of the families that were hardest hit were able to even say anything or even make an effort to express the anguish that was inside. These people were hurt deep inside. Not only do they need to rebuild their lives and means of livelihood but many of them need to find a reason to even put forth the effort to carry on.
We shared with Sis Reji that we wanted to find a few genuinely affected families and children, understanding our intention and without losing a minute she directed us to some of the most broken families; simultaneously keeping the less affected families away from us.
In our observation of the select families we could tell they did not have it in them to know how to start to rebuild their lives. They just burst forth in tears with uncontrollable crying and grief and we too could not restrain the heart ache. The houses were strewn with wreckage and debris.
