Forgotten Tsunami Fundraising

Concept Branch Manager, Alan Dyer is home from India and tells of the plight to help build new homes for families who lost everything in the 2004 Tsunami.

Commenting on the trip Alan said: "18 of us left for India on October 9th 2009 for a 10 day period to assist with a rebuilding houses program in the fishing village of Chinnakuppam. The village was dealt a devastating blow by the 2004 Tsunami resulting in 140 families losing their homes and everything they owned. Foundations for 100 homes had already been laid and the CMCT had already helped, through international assistance, rebuild 40 homes. Whilst there, we managed to complete a further 24 single room homes. Working closely with the local labourers, it was all too evident how desperate these families were to rebuild their lives. Parents left youngsters playing in the dirt for 10 hour shifts while they carried bricks and cement to site allowing the construction to move along swiftly. Their efforts were astonishing and along with the locals who prepared food and shelter for us, we couldn't have done it without them. We'd start work at 6am and work until it got dark. We often didn't stop for lunch as we were aware that many of the local labourers had no lunch to eat. The most gratifying part of the trip was watching the handover of these completed houses to the families for whom they would become their homes."