Despite the sweltering heat outside, bonded labour survivors Arul and Pachayamma are vibrant with joy as they sit in their newly-constructed, semi-solid home. Less than 6 months ago, the couple had lost everything.
With the worst rainfall in over 100 years, the floods of late 2015 devastated the state of Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, disasters such as this often affect vulnerable community members the most; Arul and Pachayamma were no exception to this rule.
“We lived in a mud house. When it rained the water would seep above the mud floor and we could not sleep in our home. We had to live in a government school,” Pachayamma says. “After we came back two weeks later, our house had still not dried out so we took a stick and mounted a small tent. It was very hard.”
Not only did the floods destroy their home, but Arul and Pachayamma lost their livelihood when the water took their livestock.
“We had chickens and goats but we lost all of them; even we didn’t have a place to stay, so where could the animals go?” Pachayamma asks.
After the floods, an International Justice Mission Recovery Assessment Team was sent to affected villages to determine the condition of the released bonded labourers living there. The team found that 66 survivors lacked adequate housing. Many of these survivors had contracted malaria and other diseases as a result. The team therefore concluded that the greatest need of survivors was basic shelter.
“Housing is foundational to the rehabilitation process,” says Rani Ananda, IJM Community Partnerships Specialist. “It acts a springboard for the development of sustainable livelihood options and provides protection from the elements and other threats, such as snakes and insects.”
Following IJM’s assessment, Saath Chalo, a coalition of community members and NGOs focused on assisting bonded labour survivors, committed to constructing 50 houses for these survivors. A group of students from Madras Christian College pledged to raising funds and constructing 11 houses for survivors, while IJM agreed to an additional eight houses. By the end of May, Saath Chalo will have completed 21 houses and MCC students will have finished all 11. The remaining houses are expected to be completed this year.
“I went to the labourers’ village after the floods and everything was gone,” says Sam Jebadurai, former MCC student who instigated the student project to build houses for released bonded labourers. “I made it my personal vision to build houses for them.”
The construction of these houses demonstrates how community groups and grassroots organisations can amplify the effects of existing government rehabilitation schemes and equip released bonded labourers with items or skills to assist them in becoming self-sustaining. Adequate housing, in this case, can be used by survivors as a platform upon which access to livelihood opportunities, security, education and other rehabilitative components can be gained.
Arul and Pachayamma still have many challenges to face on their journey towards restoration, however these are significantly lessened with the provision of suitable housing. The couple are thankful for the initiative of grassroots organisations, like Saath Chalo, and individuals, like Sam, who have demonstrated that the efforts of the community and government combined can assist in the holistic rehabilitation of survivors.
“For a long time we couldn’t sleep at home and live peacefully,” says Pachayamma. “Now we are extremely happy; words cannot express how happy we are.”
Bandhua 1947 