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Extending hope after the tsunami.

Article Excerpt
Vikas Gora

Arthik Samata Mandal

Atheist Centre, INDIA

EDITOR'S NOTE: After the 2004 Christmas tsunami devastated the East Coast of India, the Atheist Centre--located in Vijayawada, near to the coastline--was the first agency on the scene providing medical care, water, and other necessities. The Atheist Centre operates its own modern hospital and has many doctors, counsellors, and nurses on its staff.

Determined donations from Humanist and Atheist organizations and individuals have helped in recouping the livelihoods of hundreds of fisher-folk who were struck by the December 26, 2004, tsunami on the coast of Andhra Pradesh, India. We are thankful for the timely initiatives of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) and Institute for Humanist Studies, USA, the German Freethinkers Association, the Norwegian Humanist Association, the American Humanist Association, USA, the British Humanists, and the Australian Rationalists which facilitated in reaching out to scores of families who have been victims of both natural (Tsunami) and economic disasters.

Further to the assistance rendered in the First Phase to 176 families on 26 January 2005 in two villages (114 families from Pattauppakalli of Nagayalanka Mandal and 62 families from Basavanipalem from Koduru Mandal), Arthik Samata Mandal of the Atheist Centre has extended its tsunami rehabilitation work to ten more villages. On March 29th, 2005, six villages in Prakasam District were covered--which include Peddapallipalem (162 Families), Bapaiahnagar (50 Families), Turpupallepalem (70 Families), Padamarapallepalem (25 Families) & Ramachandranagar (60 Families)--and they received fishing gear, whereas Kunkudachantlapalem village received clothes with the help of families from ICRISAT Colony, Hyderabad.

On 8 April 2005, 104 families from four villages that...