Day by Day, Step by Step

India: Tsunami reconstruction video to air on VisionTV February 16, 2006

In the village called Idinthakarai in the Tamil Nadu region of India, fisher families are rebuilding their lives after the tsunami. In the video documentary entitled Day by Day, Step by Step we meet Raj and Rita, with their four children.  In November 2005 they welcomed video documentary producer Larry Giesbrecht to their community and talked with him about their ongoing struggle to rebuild their lives.
Raj spoke of the tsunami waves, â┚¬Ã…”When the first big wave came, we were not worried.  The second wave was a little higher and so we took the children to a safer place.  But the third wave was worse and took all our belongings, boats and nets.â┚¬? 
One of the ways Indian children who were fearful about returning to their seaside schools work through those fears is by drawing and talking about their experience with a teacher. Mr. Giesbrecht took a â┚¬Ã…”video postcardâ┚¬? with him from middle school students in Gimli, Manitoba, who raised funds for tsunami relief. Both sets of students had a chance to talk about reaching out to one another so that all of them can have â┚¬Ã…”a good life.â┚¬? 
The people of Idinthakarai are participants in a reconstruction program run by CASA (Churchâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s Auxiliary for Social Action) of India that is community-driven and recipient-owned.  With CASAâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s encouragement of their involvement in discussions, the women of Idinthakarai have found new places and voices in the reconstruction process.  Says one, â┚¬Ã…”Before tsunami, men worked at the seashore catching fish.  After tsunami the men were afraid to go to sea, so the women had no income.  As a result groups formed in search of an alternate way for incomeâ┚¬Ã‚¦Our lifestyle has changed.â┚¬?
CASAâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s program is supported by The Primateâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s World Relief and Development Fund, Mennonite Central Committee, Presbyterian World Service & Development and The United Church of Canada, with matching funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).  The Canadian churches were initially drawn together through their membership and affiliation with ACT (Action by Churches Together). Day by Day, Step by Step will be broadcast February 12, 2006, on Spirit Connection, VisionTV, later on some provincial educational channels, and will then be available in video and DVD format through PWRDF.  Visit the film website  for further information.
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