The Nicobarese Tribe Wakes up to Sustainable DRR - A Case Study

Dawn of responsive attitude amongst the frivolous Nicobarese tribe is the harbinger of indispensable sustainability in DRR initiatives in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands… 

James Reuben, a 12 years old boy, who stayed beside the Senior Secondary School near the seashore at the village of Malacca, Car Nicobar when the ferocious Tsunami struck the island of peace on 26th December, 2004, scampered away with his father and the rest of his family towards the jungle in the interior of the island, immediately after the islanders heard the bloodcurdling sound of the tsunami waves approaching the island that reminded some of them of the earsplitting hoot of a gargantuan anaconda.

 

Now, four odd years after one of the most devastating catastrophes that humankind has ever been witness to, James Reuben, a 16 years old maturing teenager has been selected by WBVHA’s Child Led Disaster Risk Reduction (CLDRR) team as a promising member of the Search & Rescue wing of the Task Force Group (TFG) of the village of Malacca.  

 

While attending the comprehensive training for “Strengthening of the TFGs” at New Malacca, where he, now, stays with his family in the permanent shelter provided to them by the A & N Administration, James says ruefully in his Nicobarese tongue, “If, at all, we had the requisite fundamental knowledge and expertise and the Rescue & First Aid kits and the other essential equipments that WBVHA & Save the Children - BRB have now provided to us, at the time tsunami had struck, quite a lot of lives would have been saved”. 

 

James, now, makes sure that he doesn’t miss a single training session, awareness program and other participatory learning and action (PLA) exercises organized by WBVHA under the purview of the visionary CLDRR project.

 

 

He is a regular learner and a partaker who motivates the other members of the community to practice the techniques and methods taught by WBVHA’s proficient trainers and instructors. 

 

 

The Nicobarese community was busy head over heels during the month of March, 2009, observing the holy fasting of 40 days which lasts up to Easter. Hence, all the Village Headmen had denied WBVHA the permission to conduct any activities during the months of March & April. 

Nevertheless, with the Program Coordinator meeting the Bishop of Diocese, A & N Islands, Rt. Rev. Christopher Paul and convincing him of the inevitable need of carrying out the necessary training and awareness programs without a hitch with the imperative participation of the community for the far-reaching welfare of the entire Nicobarese community, all the village Headmen were directed by the Bishop to permit the WBVHA project team to conduct the same, who saw reason and the significance of the CLDRR initiatives of WBVHA. 

 Bishop of Diocese, A & N Islands in the pink shirt with the Deputy Commissioner, Nicobars, Mr. Srikanth being garlanded by WBVHA staff.

Shrinath Vashishtha, Program Coordinator of WBVHA handing over the Health & Rescue Kits to Mr. Lionel Nicomede, the First Headman of the village of Chukchucha, Car Nicobar Island,  accompanied by Mr. Peterson Job, the mercurial Second Headman.

In a nutshell, this proved to be the very dawn of a much-needed responsive attitude amongst the frivolous Nicobarese tribe and can be fittingly comprehended as the harbinger of the indispensable sustainability in the CLDRR initiatives amongst the community.

 

Case Study prepared by -

SHRINATH VASHISHTHA

Car Nicobar.

Great Andamanese Tribe-Historic Battle of Aberdeen-The First War

On 17^th May, 2009, the Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lt. General (Retd) Bhopinder Singh, PVSM (Param Vishisht Seva Medal) and AVSM (Ati Vishisht Seva Medal), led the Islanders in paying rich tributes to all those Great Andama  nese tribals killed during the historic Battle of Aberdeen fought on 17^th May, 1859 against the British intruders at Aberdeen, Port Blair.

The historical sketch of the Battle of Aberdeen, Port Blair

At a simple function held at the Battle of Aberdeen Memorial, Water Sports Complex, Port Blair, on the morning of 17^th May, 2009, the Lt. Governor laid a wreath at the memorial followed by paying of floral tributes by the Chief Secretary, Shri Vivek Rae, senior officers of the A & N Administration, public representatives, prominent Islanders, senior citizens and school students. A two minutes silence was also observed to mark the occasion.

This, my dear friends, reminds me of a mighty thought-provoking and highly acclaimed article that my erudite father, Mr. Purushottam Lal Vashishtha, Assistant Secretary (Retd), Official Language (Hindi), A & N Administration had authored, which was published by the illustrious author and editor, Dr. Dharmaveer Bharati in his fortnightly Hindi magazine, “Dharmayug” about 24 years ago from now, about the historic Battle of Aberdeen.

And he fervently repeated the quintessence of the article while conversing with me yesterday telephonically, saying that it was the “Great Battle of Aberdeen” fought by the gallant members of the Great Andamanese tribe at Port Blair that ought to be recognized as a sequel of the very First War of Independence that broke out in the year 1857 under the leadership of Rani of Jhansi, Tantya Topei, Bahadur Shah Zafar and last but not the least, Mangal Pandey.

Incidentally, I’m also reminded of an enchanting experience a couple of months ago when I happen to run into Leechu, one of the handfuls of now civilized members of the Great Andamanese tribe from Long Island, Middle Andaman. I ran into her at the hair salon, where she had accompanied her son for a hair-cut, as well.

Leechu with her son at the Water Sports Complex, Port Blair

Although she’s 56 years old now, she hardly looks older than 36 years. When I asked her casually about the present condition of her tribe, she had a long tale of sufferings to talk about with me about her kith and kin at Long Island. Most of them are suffering from TB, high blood pressure and asthma etc. the enormously publicized and bountifully funded govt. endeavors notwithstanding. Every now and then, she has to take somebody or the other from her clan over to Chennai for better and adequate treatment as the local G. B. Pant Hospital at Port Blair, although the largest and, in fact, very well-equipped in the entire Island territory of Andaman & Nicobar is often considered unpredictable due to their overall performance over the past 2 and a half decades or so.

Well, my dear friends, the generations of the naturally valiant freedom fighters from the Great Andamanese tribe of the sequel of the First War of Independence i.e. the Battle of Aberdeen, are soon to be lost in oblivion, if the indifference and inaction of the so-called civilized world is not eradicated. At least, four and a half years after the tsunami of 26^th December, 2004, the administration is required to do plenty more than simply laying wreaths at the various Memorials once a year...

YouTube - Endangered Jarawa - India

WELL, AS FAR AS THE BURNING ISSUE OF JARAWAS IS CONCERNED, I, BEING A LOCAL ISLANDER OF THE A & N ISLANDS, HERE, ENDORSE THE VIEWS OF 4ray, which are as under...

YouTube - Endangered Jarawa - India: "I don't think we should decide to leave the Jarawa alone or not. The Jarawa made a decision to mingle with society and not fight the Indians living there. That is probably because they decided the Indians are not a danger to them. And they are not for the most part. We just need to work harder to protect their original environment better and minimize the bad influences of our society."