Kazhanipakkam Assembly Hall Renovations ~ Kazhanipakkam, Tamil Nadu, India
by Peter Coughlan, PhD, Executive Director of WaterBridge Outreach: Books + Water
A second initiative that was enabled by JosephJoseph participation in the London Color Run (see Anna Nagar Bore Well and Handpump Project) was a reconstruction of the Assembly Hall at the village of Kazhanipakkam. At an earlier date WaterBridge Outreach had collaborated with SAVE Int'l in work on a well in an Irula enclave not far from the main Kazhanipakkam Dalit village (cf. the first photo below), but their collaboration in this case regarded a much needed development and partial reconstruction of the Assembly Hall there to include a steel sheet pitched roof over the whole building.
Kazhanipakkam is a rural village in Tamil Nadu of 90 households, around 300 people in all. These villagers are all exclusively Dalits, a scheduled community or caste formerly known as “untouchables”, a word that relates in many parts of India to the deeply rooted notions of “purity” and “pollution”. There was, and often still is, the idea that to be in contact with the “untouchables” pollutes the “purity” of “higher” communities or castes. The particular name of the caste that resides in Kazhanipakkam is Parayar from which the word “pariah” comes. It is a Tamil word used to describe those who belong by birth to this particular untouchable caste. The fact that the word has taken on the meaning of “outcast” in English is expressive of its origins and the ill treatment they have received from other higher caste Indians for many centuries.
The Assembly Hall is a large building, about 900 sq ft in all, with two rooms under a concrete flat roof, and the building plays a vital role in the life of the Kazhanipakkam community. It is used as a tuition school, one of 25 established by SAVE Int’l, to provide much needed tuition for children and young people in order to make up for what is often lacking in the public school system. SAVE Int’l funds two teachers at this particular tuition school. The Hall is also used for sewing by women of the community, sewing machines being provided, and some of the garments they produce can be sold as a source of income.
In addition, and this is an essential role of the Assembly Hall, it is used for the many obligatory ritual and ceremonial functions that play a crucial role in the life of the community. Hindu priests are involved in the marriages, the blessings of pregnant women, and the naming ceremonies of the children that take place a year after birth (a reminder of a time when infant mortality was common and no name was given until the infant had proved it was able to survive its first year!). There are many other social functions and community gatherings that take place in the Hall.
An important feature of many of these moments in community life is that, for example at marriages, the ceremonial meal that is expected to be offered by families to those gathered for the event can most easily and cheaply be offered at the Assembly Hall rather than at more expensive venues elsewhere – but this has to be separate from the place where the religious event itself has taken place. The flat roof is used for eating, but the intensity of the Indian hot seasons makes this problematic. Likewise, when children gather between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening in one of the downstairs rooms used as the tuition school, the accumulated heat of the day makes the use of the room almost unbearable.
SAVE Int’l decided to overcome these problems by erecting a pitched roof with open sides over the existing flat roof surface, so as to provide protection from sun and rain. This means that in the hot weather the tuition school classes can take place in the cool of the roof, with breezes coming in from the sides. It also means that the meals that follow ceremonial events, but which have to be separate from the place where the ceremonies actually take place, can be located there.
Curt Degler, president of SAVE Int'l, stands by the steel gate that was added "to keep out those who are intoxicated" (an occasional local problem!). The gate, together with the conduits, copper wiring, sockets,and bulbs necessary for installing electric light throughout the Hall (Sonny Saravanam of TVO is seen pointing to the new lighting) were added by WaterBridge Outreach so as to allow SAVE Int'l to complete the work that the JosephJoseph funds have made possible.
All this shows what can be done in these areas at relatively little expense. SAVE Int’l and WaterBridge Outreach are very grateful for the funds from the staff of JosephJoseph, raised through their participation in the annual summer “Color Run” in London. This is an event participants enter in order to raise funds for various charities. It is called the “Color Run” because many of the participants start off the five kilometre course, mostly in white clothes and the Run is open to young and old and all fitness levels, and are then pelted with brightly colored powders at each kilometre marker as they run, jog, walk, or dance the course. The result is a kaleidoscope of color at the finishing line, described by at least some participants as the happiest five kilometres in the world!
Many thanks JosephJoseph!
 COVID-19 SupportWorking with Curt Degler of South Asian Village Empowerment International, we helped to fund a rice distribution in Tamil Nadu in some of the villages we've both visited and have books and water projects in. Good quality rice was provided for 100 families during this difficult time of the pandemic. |  Mobile LibraryThis motorbike mobile library serves villages in a remote rural area south of Chennai. Mr. Venkatesan is the librarian-teacher who takes the books from one village to another on his 100cc motorbike |  Tuition Center RoofA second initiative that was enabled by JosephJoseph participation in the London Color Run (see Anna Nagar water project) was a partial reconstruction of the Kazhanipakkam Assembly Hall to include a steel sheet pitched roof over the whole building and the installation of lighting and security gates. This area provides additional space for children attending the free tuition (tutoring) school located on the main floor. |
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 Free Tuition Tutoring CenterWaterBridge Outreach provides books + literacy materials to after-school (free) tuition centers run by Save INT'L near Mamallapuram, India. These centres play a vital role not only in helping the children learn English, but also in preparing them for their national 10th grade exams and future life. |  Bore Well and Hand Pump RepairsOur 2nd water project in Anna Nagar saw us working with Save Int'l again to overhaul an old government installed bore well with non-functioning hand pump that has not worked for many years. The well required a deep cleaning to be reactivated and working with Save Int'l we hope to convert the well into a electric powered submersible pump with water holding tank. |  Dalit Toilet Complex RehabilitationIn many parts of India the Dalits – the community or caste originally referred to as the “Untouchables” – still suffer discrimination. WBO, working with Curt Degler of Save Int'l, has engaged over the years in numerous literacy and water infrastructure projects that express respect for the human dignity of the Dalits while also meeting basic needs. Much needed repairs and rehabilitation of the water system that supplies the Dalit toilet complex have now been completed. |
 School WashroomsLack of sanitation facilities is a serious problem in schools in many parts of India. This lack of basic infrastructure can have a negative impact on childrens’ education, especially on the education of girls. In collaboration with Save Int’l, WaterBridge Outreach is constructed new toilet facilities at Melaiyuur School in Tamil Nadu. |  School WashroomsWhen the elementary school in Karanai desperately needed toilets for the use of the children, WBO partnered with Curt Degler, executive director of Save Int'I, to provide basic washroom facilities for the school. Otherwise, like almost half of the population of India, the children would have to defecate in the open. The lack of basic sanitation is only too often a source of diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. |  Bore Well + Hand PumpThe attitude and spirit of the villagers in the Irular tribal enclave at Kazhanipakkam make this project a very special one. These smiling Irular people have very little of their own and they were delighted when the new well and pump made water available in their village instead of a long walk away. |
 Water for 4 SchoolsThanks to the initiative and generosity of students at Holy Names University, Oakland, California, four schools in remote rural areas now have clean drinking water. |  Reverse Osmosis SystemIn 2012 residents in Ellandoppu had no clean water for drinking, washing pots, and general sanitation. The already toxic state of the water had deteriorated further after the infiltration of salt water from the sea following the devastating Indonesian earthquake and tsunami in 2010. The solution to the water problem was the installation of a reverse osmosis system. |  Reverse Osmosis SystemNorth Mamallapuram Dalit School ~ this small school serves primary students from poor Dalit families. The two classrooms are very basic with cement floors and battered old wooden desks, yet made bright and welcoming by displays of the students' work. A reverse osmosis system has been installed to provide students and teachers with purified drinking water. |
 Reverse Osmosis SystemAfter 10+ years of constant use the reverse osmosis system in Salavankuppam required a complete overhaul. Working with Curt Degler of Save Int'l we provided funds for this much needed work and are happy to announce that the ro system is now providing clean, purified drinking water to the residents. |  Bore Well + Hand PumpFunds raised by the company JosephJoseph, through their participation in the annual summer “Color Run” in London, allowed us to construct this bore well and hand pump in Anna Nagar, India. |  Bore Well + Hand PumpThanks to a generous grant from the Sonoma Women's Giving Circle, WBO worked with Save International to install a 150 ft well with hand pump in the rapidly expanding enclave known as Jeeva Nagar. The majority of newcomers are victims of what is known as “the illegal bonded labor segment” – the bonded laborers in this “labor segment” are perhaps best described as modern-day slaves. |