Gerald Plissart

 

Report 1:  "My report based on my 2 stayings in Narasingpur village.
When I came to Narasingpur village for the first time I still had my "Western glasses" on and saw mainly the devastation from an economical point of view.  The first scene of devastation was one of broken trees, damaged houses, no electricity and fields that can’t be used for cultivation because of the saltdeposit the cyclone related seatides left on his way through this area.   During my stay I had a few meetings in which I asked questions about the impact of the cyclone on their way of living.  When I compare their stories about the period just after the cyclone and now, seven months later, I have the feeling that little has changed.

 

A few days after the cyclone, the villagers started to get relief from NGO’s and government organisations. They provided food, drinking water, clothes and shelter.  This kind of relief was certainly needed after the cyclone.  But even now, seven months later, organisations are still "dumping" food, clothes,etc. in those villages.  I understand that there is still a need for food, clothes, water and shelter but by continuing this kind of relief, the villagers are becoming dependent on the relief.  They basically do nothing or very little to take their future in control.

 

They aren’t making any effort to change their actual situation, they just wait for the next truck with food and clothes to drop in.  I know that it mustn’t be easy to start from zero again when everything you’ve possessed has been destroyed.   I can only imagine the impact of the cyclone on a psychological level.  From a human point of view many are also destroyed on the "inside".  Many people lost family members and many kids became orphans.  It is normal that people get depressed when such a natural disaster destroys everything you have.  But after all, life still goes on !  It is a hard fact but the reallity.  And I can understand that sometimes some people need a little push to wake up from their lethargy.

 

And that push, CTRD and the other NGO’s of this consortium, is giving them while other organisations are keeping them in that same state of mind.  People are becoming beggars.   This has to be stopped.  Like Mister R.N.Pati (Director, CTRD) told me so wisely: " It is better to teach somebody to fish than to give him a fish."   That is what CTRD and the NGO’s are trying to do in this village.  The first step of this process was the formation of "Women Self-help groups".   Another thing we did, was distributing some vegetable-seeds to the villagers so they could cultivate some vegetables for themselves.  Another problem in this village is the fact that the schools were quite empty.  The teachers haven’t been paid for the last three months by the government.

 

This is, in my eyes, also a serious problem because the kids are this country’s future. And if they are not given proper education they couldn’t possibly face some facts in life.  Knowledge is important and everybody should have access to it.  To conclude this report:   Apparently the Narasingpur-villagers aren’t facing any major health problems any more.  This is the result of reliefwork by some organisations who gave tablets against fever, diarrhoa and other diseases which occurred after cyclone.  But the villagers of Sahada are still facing some health problems like fever and diarrhoa.  I don’t know exactly how many villagers are still facing those kind of problems because we didn’t have the time to investigate that point any further.  It seems to me that this village, Sahada, is facing much more problems than Narasingpur. The survey Mr. Panigrahy made partially can demonstrate this.  Those villagers are possessing less land per people than the villagers of Narasingpur.  We’ve also distributed vegetable-seeds to those villagers to help them out.  I think that these villagers are more in need for the moment and it would maybe be a good idea to focus the Bore-Well-project we are planning, on this village."

Report 2:  "Another month already passed by!  At the beginning of June I went to Nimapara, a little village some 40 km from Bhubaneswar. CTRD has also an office there. I went there to examine how the "Women-Self-Help-groups" were functioning there. Those groups are already existing there for several years. To me this is a perfect example of the Indian way of thinking.  I explain: during my previous stay at the Narasingpur-village, mid of May we had to form such groups to promote the creating of micro-enterprises to redevelop their economie. We received some information of how to create those groups. If only we’ve been send then to Nimapara we would have been much more informed about those groups. No wonder that when we went back to Narasingpur only 4 of the 20 groups were remaining !   So from 11/06 till 30/06 I went back to Narasingpur.

 

This time we finalised the selection of the Borewell-site. We’ve chosen a place at a cross-section of two little sandroads so that they easily could irrigate four quarters of land.  A foundation-stone has already been placed with the inscription: " Shallow Borewell for small and marginal farmers donated by Gerald Plissart and friends, Belgium. Implemented by CTRD, Bhubaneswar."  I insisted on the "and friends" because it is thanks to their donations that the realisation of this project was made possible.  So this month normally we will start the installation of the Borewell. Normally we already would have started the works but due to the weather we were forced to interrupt our work many times.  It is not for nothing that this period of the year is called "Raining Season"!!

 

We also raised a Nursery. With the help of some village-kids we put some sand in about 600 bags.  We’ve planted several types of seeds like Papaya, Acacia, Drumstick, Sea-Bubul.  After one week some little plants were already growing. No need to say that is very satisfying to see the result of your work. I gave the kids some sweets as a reward for their help. It was a lot of fun working together.
I think that the villagers finally are starting to see the purpose of our work there. In the beginning they were only asking for immediate relief like clothes, food, money and Paddy-seeds.  Now they’re realising that the Borewell will provide water for irrigation and that the would be able to cultivate also during the summer period. Because now they are depending on the Monsoon for their cultivation.
The contacts with the villagers were also getting better and better.

 

The kids offer me sometimes sweets and local snacks. A few days ago I was invited by some villagers to take lunch at their home. They were celebrating the day their father died. It is a custom that at that date they invite their relatives and neighbors for dinner.  I was very honored by this invitation. From time to time I get some private lessons of Oriya by some kids. So now I know a handful of words.   Unfortunately I think that I’ve not chosen the right period to come over to here.  The organisation I work for, CTRD, is facing some problems.  They have to face some critics made by some bureaucrats.  So everybody is quite stressed and tired because they are working almost day and night to finish reports to prove they are doing useful work.  Yesterday I went to Puri to see the world famous festival in honor of Lord Jagganatha.

So that’s all the news I can give for the moment.  To finish this letter I’d like to insert a text that I’ve read on one of the walls of the office here in Bhubaneswar.

 

ANYWAY.
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives,
Do good anyway.
If you are successful you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
People favor underdogs and only follow top dogs.
Fight for some underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have got.
ANYWAY.

Warm greetings from India,
Gerald Plissart"