When the Tsunami struck we were led to the fishing hamlet of Chinnakuppam. We have helped this hamlet now for three and a half years. We provided weekly rations when there has been tremendous need, we provided clothing, household items, cooking utensils, buckets and other necessary household items. We provided 43 motorized fishing boats (fibre-glass boats) along with fishing nets. We provided fishing hooks and different kinds of fishing nets to catch different kinds of fish. We put up a Welfare Centre, which today houses a Creche for children under five years of age. During the week the Welfare Centre is used as a Tutorial Centre for children who are given tuition in the evening by two tuition teachers for two hours. We have opened an office, and have three staff who are active in visiting this village thrice a week. They move around and counsel the families in many different situations. We provided clothing for the children and sports equipment for teenagers. We have built a medical centre along with a dental department and a small room attached for a Pharmacy. We were led to put up a Community Hall which the village people are able to use for many occasions. The community hall was built with a raised floor, so that the villagers will have a place to run to for safety in the event of another Tsunami.

We have built up a good relationship with all the people. We find that many of their lives are now completely changed. A medical team goes weekly. We have started a sponsorship program for the children of Tsunami affected families. We have 250 children who need a person to sponsor them in this program. It is important to sponsor children for education so that we can uplift the lives of the children in the future and ultimately, their families. Sponsoring children helps us to get to know the families better and have a closer relationship with them.

We have to build a total of 140 houses and so far the Lord has enabled us to complete building 34. In order to make all the families secure, we need to build a house for each family. We have put down the foundations for a further 106.

This is a big project, and as an NGO, we are expected to do this. The balance cost of a house is £2810 (excluding foundation cost). We need teams to come from different countries with men who are brick layers, plasterers and carpenters, to help us over the next one to two years to complete building these houses. We have one desire and that is to do an effective work in this village and to see the lives of these people changed. We desire to set up a model village in India.

We have a tailoring centre and have appointed a government trained sewing teacher. This Centre is run every afternoon from 2.00 pm to 6.00 p.m. The ladies are doing well and are happy that this provision has been made for them. We built toilets in two places and we have put down water pumps and have sought to totally uplift the village.