Every village has an elected rural development society, and many agencies deliver their aid through these societies giving them tremendous power. Our visit to the village of Manalchenai showed that this power is not always respected. We come to the same conclusion after visiting Thuraineelavenai, a village that suffered unusual damage from the Tsunami.

Thuraineelavenai is far enough from the sea to have escaped a direct hit. But the fierce winds and high water dumped masses of barbed wire and garbage into the lagoon, making it unusable for fishing. Eighty-five percent of the families here used to depend upon lake fishing.

No agencies have managed to deal with this. Cordaid, the Dutch organization, has provided netting for 30 fishermen, but it remains unused because the villagers are afraid it will be ripped to shreds. They are even unwilling to eat fish, for fear that it might be polluted.

Net Impact: the lake fishermen of Thuraineelavenai are afraid their nets will be shredded by Tsunami detritus.

The best way to help this village is to clean up the lake, and the villagers would contribute their labor. But this would be a massive task, way beyond the means of the Home for Human Rights. As a result, HHR decides to follow the same formula it developed at Cheddipalayam, do a full assessment of the impact of the disaster on the village, and lobby UN agencies and the Government to clear the lake.

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Once again we come face to face with the issue of widows. There are 66 of them in this village, and while none of them lost husbands in the Tsunami, they have all been indirectly affected by the loss of income that has resulted from the lake closure. Several sit in the front row, clutching affidavits.

We expect a repeat of Nasivanteevu, but it doesn’t happen. This village seems to agree that widows need special help, and T. Ahileswaram, the secretary of the Ward 6 rural development society, says that the council has actually launched a project to provide a group of 25 widows with loans of 5,000 rupees ($50). The society is looking for capital.

Strong personality: One of the Thuraineelavenai widows.

This seems promising. The council was elected two years ago, and several people in the audience acknowledge that Ahileswaram and his committee are doing a good job.

Then something happens, and the mood changes. We are told that there are no fewer than four councils in this village, and they are all competing with each other. S. Poopalaratnam, from the audience, tells us loudly that they cannot be trusted. Someone mumbles that Poopalaratnam is “liqqored” but his fierce little speech draws some applause.

If the mood has changed, so has the plan. It would not be possible to work with just one council, even one as efficient as Ward 6. Besides, the Ward 6 council has already been selected for a lucrative pilot project by one donor, causing jealousy among the others.

Suddenly HHR is back where it started, unable to work with the village representatives and reluctant to work directly with individuals. Xavier settles for the Nasivanteevu formula. He decides to propose a women’s association which will be asked to start with small projects for about 25 widows. Each will be given money to buy a goat or some poultry.

As we develop yet another ambitious scheme, it is becoming clear that the impact on HHR will be considerable. For starters, so many of these projects concern women that HHR will almost certainly have to hire someone to work specifically with women.