Page 6 - link magazine

6 The Link Magazine • January 2003
Earthquake victims move into new homes with Wiltshire's help

Money donated by the people of Wiltshire has given hope and new lives to earthquake victims in India, less than two years after their world
collapsed around them.
26 January marks the anniversary dinate how cash should be used.
of a huge earth tremor centred on Thousands of pounds was collected
the bustling city of Bhuj in the state within a short time and fundraising
of Gujurat, in the west of India. The events in the following months took
destruction of property was huge the total to £20,000.
and several hundred died. The in- Samaj committee member Danny
ternational aid response was imme- Hirani from Sparcells and his wife
diate, and for Hindus across Britain, Manju are closely connected with
and particularly in Swindon, the Bhuj as their parents live in a village
worry was immense as many have ten kilometres from the city. He said,
family in Gujurat. "it's almost impossible to imagine
The reaction from people of all what it's like to be in an earthquake.
backgrounds and faiths across Wilt- Large areas of the city just collapsed;
shire was both rapid and generous. it was very old and buildings had
Individuals and organisations been put up without much control,
across Wiltshire turned to Swindon's even though there have been major
Hindu Samaj to coordinate aid do- earthquakes in the past. Our par-
nations and a small committee was ents' village was badly damaged Members of the Madhavnagar sub-committee of the Swindon Hindu Samaj with
children who attend weekly cultural classes at Drove School, rear from left, Dhiru
formed to sort and deliver the large and they were traumatised, but
Hirani, Rajnibhai Lakhani, Sushma Patel, RambhaiMehta, Gujurati class teachers
quantity of clothing and blankets to thankfully unharmed."
Jyoti Bhakta, Rajesh and Kanak Samant, committee member Dineshbhai Patel
central collecting points and to coor- He said that once the immediate
One of the new houses in Madhavnagar relief efforts were mosques; the disaster touched a has purchased 12 houses, complete
underway and local nerve and people from all back- with running water and electricity,
families had been in grounds and faiths responded. built on a street which will be named
touch with relations, the "From the beginning our aim was after the county. What was also im-
Samaj started to look at to ensure money raised locally portant is that the villagers have
long term objectives. should make a long term difference worked together to rebuild their lives
"People from Wiltshire to people and also we wanted it to and contributed their own money
were extremely gener- be identifiable with the people of and their labour to make bricks and
ous and money came in Wiltshire. We took a long time de- build houses. They were also in-
from so many individu- cidingwhich was the
als, community organi- right reconstruction
sations, schools, project to get in-
churches, temples and volved with. It was
difficult knowing , >!
.±.
what to do from ^^. ^
thousands of mi les ".. o ,
away. We could
have combined our •
effort with other ^^ x
towns and many of Nearing completion, Wiltshire Street in Madhavnagar
the big charities
wanted us to go with them, but our volved in the design of the site and
£20,000 would have been hidden." the houses so that the best value
The committee were given a clear could be obtained."
idea of what to do when a member, Fellow committee member
Rajni Lakhani, was able to visit the Chandu Ladwa said the Samaj com-
earthquake area whilst on a busi- mittee was overwhelmed at first by
ness trip to India. the scale of the disaster and the wor-
He was particularly impressed by ries and emotional ties with the area
the self-help efforts of the people affected. This was added to by the
from the village ofNaniKhedoiwho generosity of people across the
had decided to pool their compen- county and the responsibility of
sation payments from the Indian spending the money wisely. "There
Government to buy a farm and re- were so many projects we could
build their village on another site to have got involved with but we
We have a number of properties throughout
be called Madhavnagar. Their wanted to have proper accountabil-
the Swindon area, providing accommodation project was coordinated by the Shri ity. We made a good choice at
for a comfortable yet independent retirement. Bharatya Sanskruti Trust, a local Madhavnagar and can show that
charity who brought together vil- people's lives have been improved
Please call us for further details on lagers with engineers, planners and compared with the standard of liv-
architects to discuss how the new ing in the old village. The first fami-
01672 515622
housing area should be developed, lies moved in at the beginning of
Initially 58 houses are being built December and our contacts tell us
and another 58 are planned once that they are very pleased with their
James Butcher more land is purchased. new homes."
Danny said several British towns
Housing Association were involved and large donations
had been made from the USA. "AI-
though there were many donors to
Providing accommodation throughout the central and south of England.
A charity, incorporated as an Industrial and Provident Society No. 16602 R. the project, it was possible to iden- • , .
•
tify how the money would be spent.
The Wiltshire contribution of £20,000