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Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and
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Appendix
P
Orissa Super Cyclone Relief and RehabilitationA. Background On October 29, 1999, the Indian state of Orissa was hit by the century’s worst cyclone. Many NGOs plunged into relief efforts to help the victims. IDRF too, which is committed to providing relief and rehabilitation for such natural calamities, started working with various donors and other organizations to generate monetary help for cyclone victims. IDRF volunteers met Cisco employee volunteers and Oriya Sevaks (an Indo-American organization with representation from the Indian state of Orissa) to develop a plan to help the victims. B. Fundraising Efforts IDRF sent out the fundraising appeal to all its US chapters. Cisco volunteers campaigned hard in each of their respective Cisco buildings. Similarly Oriya Sevak volunteers campaigned to raise funds from their friends, co-workers, neighbors and other prospective donors. The following are the lead members of the IDRF, Cisco volunteers, and Oriya Sevaks.
For nearly four months, these three groups (with more than twelve volunteers) met weekly to update each other on their fundraising efforts and accomplishments. Each group utilized its resources to get latest reports from Orissa about various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that were providing relief to the victims. IDRF had sent $30,000 to an Orissa-based NGO, Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti (UBSS) to help accelerate relief efforts. Many other US-based organizations have supported UBSS and other NGOs that were at the forefront of the relief efforts. Each group updated others regarding donations collected during the week. Cisco volunteers and Oriya Sevaks handed over the checks, copies of the checks, an Excel worksheet with the donor details and other relevant papers to IDRF. IDRF volunteers forwarded the paperwork to the corporate matching agencies to obtain matching grants. Cisco volunteers and volunteers from other corporations had maintained close contact with their Human Resources representatives about their fundraising efforts. C. Fund Distribution After initial relief work was well underway, the three charity groups started talking to NGOs about their rehabilitation plans. The combined efforts of the above three charity organizations/groups have resulted in total donations of about $550,000. Approximate breakdown of donations collected by each group is as follows:
Various NGOs were contacted to send proposals for rehabilitation projects. Many NGOs responded quickly with details on their rehabilitation efforts. Emphasis was given to NGOs that had a track record of serving without any discrimination for religion, caste or any other divisions. As a guideline, rehabilitation efforts were expected to facilitate sustainable economic development for the victims. Many volunteers from the above-mentioned charity groups with local contacts in Orissa were consulted to validate the background and proposals provided by NGOs. Team members were assigned to lead negotiations with NGOs about their proposals. All proposals were evaluated together as a team with representation from all charity organizations involved. Initially, many projects had received funding from all three groups. The group leaders decided the actual allocation (as a percentage of total project cost) from each group. Each project was funded in phases. Details of funding are available at the bottom of this report. Once the funding and project phases were decided, the decision was communicated to IDRF President Dr. Vinod Prakash with a request to send out the check for the first phase. During the first four to six months, many of the Bay Area volunteers visited the funded project sites to monitor the progress. IDRF president Vinod Prakash was kept in the loop and his expertise and guidance were sought as needed. After six months past the cyclone, members from each team had taken the responsibility to oversee the funding of projects, acceptance of new proposals and monitoring of funded projects. When needed, help from other members was sought. IDRF distributed funds to NGOs only after all three groups approved funds. The total amount of disbursement was about $480,000. In total, 21 NGOs received funds from IDRF for relief and rehabilitation efforts. Many of these NGOs have completed their projects. Table 2 provides status on a subset of projects. D. Conclusions The Orissa super-cyclone devastated many of Orissa’s residents and rendered them homeless and helpless. Many charitable organizations came forward to lend them a helping hand. IDRF collaborated with two other Indo-American groups, Cisco volunteers and Oriya Sevaks, to help the cyclone victims. In a combined effort, approximately $550,000 was raised. After providing relief support, these three groups have actively worked together to decide which NGOs would receive funds for rehabilitation purposes. Since Oriya Sevaks and Cisco volunteers had direct contacts with the state of Orissa, they have taken the lead to provide input for decision-making. Over $480,000 was distributed to 21 NGOs to provide rehabilitation to the victims. IDRF is actively working with Oriya Sevaks and Cisco volunteers to identify and distribute the remaining funds to NGOs that are working towards cyclone rehabilitation. E. Fund Distribution and Rehabilitation Projects
Table 1: Details of Fund Distribution
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