India

Sunday, October 22, 2006

The dot that protects brothers

Today is “Bhai Phota” in Kolkata. Well, make that West Bengal.

It’s a charming custom where sisters (and we have lots of sisters in our extended families) call all their brothers together, feed them the choicest delicacies and anoint them with three dots on the middle of their forehead, chanting a mantra designed to keep the God of Death (Yama) away. One dot is with the paste of the sacred sandalwood tree; another with “kajol”, the Indian version of mascara, often called “kohl”; and the third is with “ghee”, or clarified butter. The perfumes make quite a heady mix. No wonder Yama decides to stay away.

All the brothers have to do is be anointed and fed. They do bring along gifts for their sisters, though that’s not compulsory. And these could range from the latest music CD to an Ipod, depending how affluent you want to show you’ve become, thanks to your sister’s good wishes. Those less musically inclined could choose from any of the wondrous knicks and knacks that seem designed to charm sisters available at your nearest shopping mall. A good time is had by all, especially the economy.

There is a variant of this ritual, called “Rakhi” celebrated mostly in North India where the sister ties a “thread of protection” around the brother’s right hand.

Are there any similar customs across the world? Where the sister protects the brother? Or the other way around?

Sumit

Thursday, August 31, 2006

The flood waters are still rising: the world beyond Katrina

Even as we remember the tragedy and debacle of Katrina, floods have been occurring around the world, some in desert areas for the first time in decades, leaving hundreds dead, and hundreds of thousands displaced, homeless, and a prey to disease.

Many of the victims were already vulnerable due to drought, illness or loss of livelihood. There are many ways to help - I have included the web addresses of the various local red cross societies, but there are any number of NGOs and non--profit organizations who have long standing ties to these areas, and who could also use the help.

NEPAL: Flood victims need a lot more food and medical aid � NGOs
31 Aug 2006 14:56:29 GMT
Source: IRIN

KATHMANDU, 31 August (IRIN) - More than 60,000 victims of flooding in western Nepal urgently need food, water and basic shelter, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday.

Flooding and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rain had killed more than 50 people and displaced tens of thousands in western Nepal since Saturday, the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), the NGO most active in providing humanitarian relief and support to the victims, said.

This year’s monsoon had been one of the heaviest on record, particularly in western Nepal, NRCS said. The amount of aid provided had not been anywhere near enough, it said.

“The situation is extremely worrisome and now we should have concrete help immediately,” Rishi Silwal, a senior NRCS official, said.

His greatest concern was for the remote villages of Achham District, a hilly area 700 km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, which remained one of the worst affected of the 13 districts hit by flooding and landslides.

NRCS said more than 150 families affected by a landslide in Achham had been living in extremely dangerous conditions. The health situation, especially for women and children, had deteriorated. They were suffering from water-borne diseases due to a lack of medicines, food, shelter and proper clothing.

NRCS said although the government had managed to rescue a number of victims by helicopter, hundreds remained stranded in Debisthan, a remote village in Achham. It demanded that the government launch more rescue operations.

“All the roads are destroyed and now even the mules and humans cannot reach the remote villages with our food and medical supplies,” Silwal said.

NGOs in Nepalganj - a key city in western Nepal - were frustrated, saying that aid agencies and the government were not doing enough and had failed to make effective plans to help.

NRCS said that not a single camp had been built for displaced families, who were sheltering in public buildings.

“Even the bulk of the food is mostly supplied through local NGOs, the business community and ordinary citizens. The government’s food grains have not been able to reach most of those affected,” Pancharam Chaudhary, from the Backward Society Education (BASE) in Nepalganj, said.

NRCS said that only one fourth of the victims in Bardiya - another flood-hit district about 700 km west of Kathmandu - had been able to get food and medicines.

“It seems like many aid agencies are trying to help these victims, but none of them are offering any concrete help,” Chaudhary said.

There was a need for more coordination between aid agencies, the government and NGOs.

Chaudhary, whose organisation was planning to start a health camp for survivors, said food grains people had been saving for a year had been washed away.

OCHA said people were at risk because they were eating wet food grains from flooded areas. It said a health campaign had to be launched to promote the use of safe drinking water and the proper disposal of dead animals and wet grains.

BURKINA FASO: Tents needed to house homeless after devastating floods

OUAGADOUGOU, 31 August (IRIN) - Officials in Burkina Faso’s northern town of Gorom Gorom are seeking urgent solutions to help 6,000 people who lost their homes in flooding earlier this month.

“People are still living on the sites - in schools, community centres - and we are worried as the academic year starts soon,” said Boukary Coguyam, head of the welfare and national solidarity office for Oudalan province.

“We urgently need 330 tents to shelter those in the schools. Those sheltered in administrative buildings can stay, but for those in the schools, we cannot wait any longer,” he said.

The tents are to house more than 1,700 people currently sheltered in the main grammar school of Gorom Gorom, three primary schools and a kindergarden.

The national Red Cross said it could provide only 15 tents, which would shelter 100 families.

Romain Guigma, national Red Cross coordinator for disaster readiness and response, said the organisation was working to provide pregnant women and breastfeeding women with mosquito nets.

“They are vulnerable and we are working to prevent them from getting malaria at this time of the year when the disease easily develops with rains,” Guigma said.

About 12,000 people were affected by the floods in Oudalan province. People lost homes, belongings and crops. The area was declared food insecure in 2005. This year began well in terms of agricultural production but floods have triggered fears of food shortages. The region suffered a locust invasion in 2004.

“The worse part of the story is that people have been affected at a moment when they cannot till the land or plant anything anymore because the fertile part of the land has been washed away and the remaining period of the season will not carry enough rain,” said Ernest Ouedraogo, head of the agriculture department of Oudalan.

Officials fear that people will use their savings to buy food in the coming months, thus reducing their ability to recover from the floods for next year’s planting season.

Ethiopian Red Cross Society

Red Cross Red Crescent - Field operations in Ethiopia

Deadly floods in India turn desert area into “sea”

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - Monsoon rains and flooding have killed at least 130 people in India’s western state of Rajasthan, officials said on Monday, with huge swathes of desert underwater.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Barmer, a sprawling district that borders Pakistan and is known for its sand dunes and widely spread villages. Dozens of people are missing.

“The desert looks like a sea. There is no place where one can walk,” Captain Saurabh Modi, an army officer who is involved in relief operations in Barmer, told Reuters by telephone.

Hundreds of people marooned on sand dunes, surrounded by over 15 feet deep pools of water, were being rescued by military helicopters and motorized navy dinghies.

Most of the deaths in Rajasthan in the week-long flooding were caused by drowning and house collapses.

“Several bodies are being fished out from the swirling waters,” Rajasthan Relief Secretary R.K. Meena said.

[...]

In India’s Barmer district, hundreds of desperate villagers scrambled for food packets dropped by helicopters. Many whose homes have been flooded or collapsed are living huddled in tents of plastic sheets.

People saved themselves by hanging on to the branches of trees as flood waters swirled beneath them, TV channels reported.

“I have never seen so much water,” Thodi, an elderly woman with a heavily lined face, told CNN-IBN television. “It has destroyed everything.”

A train service between India and Pakistan that runs from Munabao in Barmer to Kokhrapar in southern Pakistan has been suspended because of the floods.

Bodies of thousands of cattle were floating in the flood waters, causing a foul smell in some areas and raising concern about the spread of disease.

The Rajasthan government has dispatched several medical teams to the district.

In western and southern India, hundreds of people have been killed and millions left homeless since the annual monsoon rains started in June.

This month’s rains in Barmer were the heaviest in at least three decades, Indian weather officials said.

(Additional reporting by Gopal Sharma in KATHMANDU)

Indian Red Cross Society