Mennonite Central Committee

Govindamma is a fish-seller in Chinnatheru, a village in India's Tamil Nadu state. She survived the waters of the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami and is participating in a women's self-help group that an MCC partner organization helped organize. (Photo by Twila Miller)

Surviving the tsunami and saving for the future

Twila Miller
June 22, 2006

On the morning of Dec. 26, 2004, Govindamma was near the shore in Chinnatheru, her small fishing village in India's Tamil Nadu state, when she saw a huge wall of water rising above her and blocking out the sky. In the moments before the wall of water came crashing down on her, she somehow wrapped her sari to a bar that boats were tied to and thought, "This is it — I am dying." A moment later she thought, "I cannot die. My son needs me."

A stranger (or perhaps, she says, it was an angel) found her floating and unconscious. He hauled her to a rescue station, where she regained consciousness several hours later. Govindamma cannot explain how it is that she lived through the tsunami, but she knows why she lives, and that is to look after her son.

Silam Barasan, Govindamma's teenage son, is her reason for living. Illiterate herself, she knows that his education is critical to his future happiness and to her well-being in old age. Govindamma sells fish in her village and earns about $1 a day. Until recently she had no savings, and the closest thing she had to a retirement plan was the hope that her son will one day take care of her.

Several months ago Govindamma began saving money by participating in a project organized by Social Unit for Community Health and Improvement (SUCHI), an organization that partners with MCC in helping tsunami survivors. She bought a bicycle for her son for about $8 Cdn., or $7 U.S., which she took from her savings. Now he travels to school by bicycle and spends less time on the road and more time studying.

Govindamma is also participating in a women's self-help group that SUCHI helped organize in her village. The group lends money to its members without charging interest. Govindamma knows that, should her son get sick, or should she need to repair the roof of her shack, she can pay for the necessary goods or services without borrowing from a local moneylender at an exorbitant rate.