Happy New Year!! a quick Hi! How was everybody's new years eve and day? Im in Chennai at the moment helping with the relief work. I took a bus to Tamil Nadu on Thursday night. Im with a friend, Candice who is also volunteering with me in Parikrma. It has been exhausting. My body has been crying out for sleep since we have arrived. We spent Friday sorting out clothes. There were soo much clothes. We are staying with Kachana cousin family. The cool thing is that Indian families are so close and no matter how distant cousin one is their homes are also open to you and all your friends. In fact Param who we are living with right now, is the founder of an NGO called SMILE (Selfless Movement Improving Lives Everywhere) and the NGO over the past week have been collecting medicines/clothes, sorting them out and distributing them. The response has been overwhelming. In fact, we are holding onto distribution for the time being until the tremor has died down because the distribution has not been thorough and those who need them have not received resources whilst not so needy people have taken advantage. Today we visited the coastline. Even though there has been a huge clean up there is a lot of debris lying around and a stenching smell. The devestation is evident.

Tomorrow we will visit the relief camps and community centers where victims are temporarily staying. Too bad we cant speak the language but I hope that at least they know there are outsiders who care. Candice and I will probably stay here, or bus to a nearby coastal town, for another 2/3 days. I will write here soon!

Bye!~