CUDDALORE, India, 24 December 2005 — As the one-year anniversary of the devastating Asian tsunami nears, the survivors of the Dec. 26, 2004 disaster from the Irula tribe are finding reconstruction efforts to be a blessing from an otherwise wide-scale tragedy.

Traditionally a poor community of forest-dwelling people, whose main source of income was catching cobras and vipers and selling their skins, this tribe from the Cuddalore district of India’s Tamil Nadu state was hit hard when India banned the hunting of endangered snakes in 1972.

Since then, the tribe has attempted to shift their economic activities to their only alternative: fishing. But without government assistance, the tribe languished for decades at the margins of society unable to come up with sufficient income to buy boats and nets.

Today, they see a brighter future thanks to the post-tsunami efforts of international and Indian relief organizations. Concrete houses have replaced rickety huts, and new boats and nets have appeared at the nearby shores of the Indian Ocean.

The tsunami has brought with it a dramatic change for the better. The disaster attracted attention of the government to the plight of the Irulas. They were given free boats and nets by NGOs, which have made a huge difference to their lives. “Only after the tsunami, authorities got to know our plight,” said one Irula tribesman. “Although the country got freedom a long time ago, only the tsunami brought us freedom.”

Said another tribesman: “After the tsunami our lives have turned better. Now we get to eat something regularly.”

Amritanand Mayi Math Ashram, a social welfare organization, is one of the NGOs that engaged in rehabilitation work for tsunami victims. The organization, run by a Hindu religious leader popularly known simply as Amma, provided shelter and support by erecting temporary relief camps shortly after the tsunami struck.

During a recent ceremony, the group handed over keys to 375 new homes to tsunami victims in Nagapattinam district. While addressing the gathering, J. Radhakrishnan, the chief administrator of Nagapattinam, called the work of Amma’s Ashram “remarkable”.

Some 45 non-governmental agencies are currently working to complete tsunami relief houses in Tamil Nadu. So far, about 1,000 homes have been completed, 50 percent of these built by Amma’s Ashram. The 375 houses built in Nagapattinam took only 180 days to complete, or more than two houses per day.

One of the recipients of the new homes was Vijayan, a fisherman who lost both his home and his grandmother in the tsunami. “If Amma had not been beside us, we would have been left totally aimless, with no aspiration to live. In fact, for three months we did not go out into the sea. But during that time, Amma gave us everything: food, shelter, education, medical care, even clothing and soap,” said Vijayan.

Rajeswari, another tsunami victim, also lost her grandmother and her family’s humble coastal hut. While her eyes sadden when describing the nightmare, she said it felt great to get a new lease on life. “Amma is not just rebuilding our houses,” said Rajeswari, “she is rebuilding our faith in life itself.”

Amritanand Math Ashram has also provided nearly 150 boats with outboard engines to the fishermen affected by the tsunami.

While these efforts have helped improve the lives of the 2,000-strong Irula community, the integration of tribal society into India’s mainstream is still a formidable challenge. “The condition of the Irula tribe is still extremely backward. A lot needs to be done. This was an opportunity for us to improve their living conditions in consultation with them,” said Gagandeep Singh Bedi, administrator of Cuddalore district.

In the next few weeks, many more of the Irulas will move from their huts to cement structures thanks to the rehabilitation efforts of different NGOs.

For the Irulas, the tsunami brought a sea change to their lives, and in this way they are indebted to the disaster for extricating them from the clutches of extreme poverty and marginalization.