We recently went for a monitoring visit to Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu which was devastated by major floods in 2017.  A particular Disaster Risk Reduction programme was led by Kalvi Kendra, a local humanitarian partner of Mercy Relief mapping out profiling of the people and structure, identifying priority dwellings and homes, which can then be used to devise risk disaster management plans during floods and typhoons. The village’s youths came forward and undertook social and demographic mapping of the population in the district. 

Another engagement was conducted with one of the many women self-help groups formed by each village to educate villagers about the emergency preparedness programme drafted by Kendra and the villagers. The self-help group also established reserve funds among members to help their families during disasters or difficult situations. The group also acts as a conduit of income generation projects to grow their reserve funds. Most of the self-help groups comprise of very poor families.