COVID Relief
Katradi has a strong track record in disaster management, dating back to founder Sangeeta Isvaran's extensive work during the devastating 2004 Tsunami that impacted South and Southeast Asia. Collaborating with UNESCO, she developed healing modules through traditional arts and contributed to rebuilding efforts. Over time, Katradi has established a robust disaster management initiative, particularly in response to recent natural disasters driven by climate change and the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled us to enhance our disaster response capacity. Katradi has since emerged as a vital player in multiple initiatives, providing urgent aid to those in need. Click here (clicking here should lead directly to the Covid relief efforts) to read more about our work during the pandemic.
Today, Katradi's disaster response team works with volunteer teams across India, playing a crucial role to aid affected communities.
In December 2023, Cyclone Michaung caused widespread devastation. Katradi focused on rescue, relief, and rehabilitation in heavily impacted areas of North Chennai, including Tharayam Kuppam, Korukkupet, R R Nagar, Thondeyarpet, Anna Colony, and Railway Colony. Coordinating with individuals and organisations across Tamil Nadu, we directed rescue operations and medical aid to those most in need.
We established a community kitchen at Railway Colony, distributing 1,000 cooked meals, alongside 2,500 buns, 1,000 water bottles, 1,500 biscuit packets, 1,000 mats, blankets, and ration kits. Each kit included 5 kg of rice, 1 kg of daal, 1/2 litre of oil, salt, sugar, and sambar powder. We also supported 100 families in Balaram Nagar, who are leprosy victims, with essential ration kits, and provided 500 blankets and mats to teams working in Chengalpet and Thoothukudi. We are grateful to all donors, whose support was vital in North Chennai and Chengalpet, enabling us to distribute essential supplies, including sanitary napkins. Our rehabilitation efforts continue as we address the long-term impact on livelihoods in flood-affected areas.
In response to the ethnic conflict in Manipur, Katradi founder Sangeeta Isvaran partnered with the Yumetta Foundation to visit relief camps, assess needs, and explore ways to assist.
The conflict displaced over 57,000 people, many of whom sought refuge in relief centers. Sangeeta identified a major issue: the lack of proper toilet facilities, forcing people to relieve themselves outdoors. This situation worsened during the monsoon, heightening health risks like urinary tract infections and vaginal rashes. In response, we decided to build toilets and bathing areas in two camps. Thanks to the efforts of InSIDE-North East, RISE Infinity Foundation, and India Cares, toilets were inaugurated at relief camps in Saikul and Nangka. While this is a step forward, many still lack access to sanitation, and we remain committed to helping these communities in conflict.
In 2021, we distributed tarpaulin sheets to villages in Kalavai Kootroad after heavy rains and floods hit Tamil Nadu following the second wave of COVID-19. We also opened up our centre to shelter people from the village whose huts were inhabitable and our free kitchen provided food to many of those affected.
In 2015, during the State of Tamil Nadu's heavy rainfall, Katradi actively participated in a volunteer team that rescued people trapped by floodwaters. We provided essential supplies such as medication, food, clothing, rations, and sanitary pads to those in need.
Katradi's commitment to disaster relief underscores our dedication to supporting communities in times of crisis and helping them recover and rebuild. In collaboration with police forces and government relief teams, our efforts have grown to be more sustained and impactful, particularly during and after the global pandemic.
COVID Relief
Since the beginning of the pandemic and the accompanying lockdowns in March 2020, Katradi has plunged into COVID Relief work, striving to assist various populations in numerous ways. This included helping stranded migrants return home, distributing food and water, providing rations in both urban and rural Tamil Nadu, offering medical relief, particularly during the second wave of COVID-19, and extending shelter and support to victims of domestic and sexual abuse, among other initiatives.
Second Wave Of COVID Relief
Volunteer groups coordinated appeals for hospital beds, oxygen, and medication.
During the second wave of COVID-19. Katradi personnel actively participated in multiple online collectives of NGOs and volunteer groups in Tamil Nadu and pan-Indian collectives. Their efforts were directed towards helping patients secure beds, oxygen, medication, plasma, and other essential medical aid.
Oxygen
Katradi dedicated efforts to source Oxygen Concentrators for Ranipet and Thiruvannamalai districts in Tamil Nadu. They also assisted individuals in Chennai in sourcing oxygen concentrators. Funds were raised for 5 oxygen concentrators for Ranipet District, which were expected to arrive by May 20th, 2021. More oxygen concentrators were being procured to support Cheyyar taluka, Thiruvannamalai. The aim was to raise funds for additional concentrators to aid rural Tamil Nadu.
Ration support in rural Tamil Nadu
Ration distribution recommenced in May 2021, targeting tribal communities, traditional performing artists, and daily wage earners whose livelihoods had been severely affected by the second wave of COVID-19.
Safe space for abused women
Katradi personnel, being among the few women volunteers on the ground, began identifying victims of abuse and sexual violence since March 2020. They realized that the lockdown had left victims in dire situations and opened their homes to provide a safe haven for women in need. They also assisted these women in accessing counselors and medical professionals when required. Their homes remained open as safe spaces for women in need.
Chennai Migrant Taskforce (CMT)
Stranded Migrants Relief Work
Seeing myriad heartbreaking sights of workers walking back to their homes that were 2000-3000 kms away Sangeeta Isvaran, co-founder, Katradi joined hands with Ravin Carr, heading Feed Chennai, to co-create a volunteer group called the Chennai Migrant Taskforce (CMT).
CMT volunteers stationed themselves in Chennai Central Station and also patrolled different highways guiding stranded migrants to shelters and onto trains. CMT volunteers distributed food, translated for the migrants from Hindi to Tamil, broke up potential conflicts when crowds of 100s would gather at Central station pushing to get on over crowded trains and helped ensure smooth transition into trains. Hearing stories of starving workers on the trains the CMT started distributing food kits with loaves of bread, jam, chapatis/theplas, water.
Building a strong relationship with the police, CMT managed to submit lists of stranded workers with data collected from phone helplines, highways, shelters, Railway stations coordinating with multiple volunteer groups and NGOs across India to submit extensive lists to the police and GCC and help Shramik trains run at full capacity through May, June, July. CMT also helped rescue groups of bonded labourers coordinating with other NGOs and teams of volunteers across India.
CMT Activities
Creating a phone helpline responding to calls for help from stranded workers, to provide them food, shelter and trains.
Distributing food and water to many shelters housing migrants to help ensure no one goes hungry.
Distributing food and water for migrants waiting in the hot sun outside Central Station
Patrolling key highways to locate groups of migrants walking and counsel them to go to shelters and support them with food and water
Bridging the language barrier doing Hindi translation where needed, helping to ease potentially conflict with empathy and understanding.
In Chennai, CMT has distributed
30,400 Food kits on Shramik trains
1,02,580 meals for homeless and stranded
4,200 grocery kits
77,000 litres of water
4,000 sanitisers to Govt COVID volunteers
CMT helped
5,071 stranded workers onto trains
2,360 workers to shelters
Katradi's involvement with this work came to an end on 15th of August, 2020.
Dry Rations Support in rural Tamil Nadu
In villages in Ranipet, Thiruvannamalai, Kachipuram and Thiruvallur districts in Tamil Nadu where tribal communities, daily wage earners, traditional Dalit artist communities were severely impacted, Katradi has distributed ration kits and food for 100s of families from April until December, 2020. Our dedicated Volunteer team headed by Thilagavathi Palani distributed 200+ ration kits every month to far flung villages of Irular and Boom-Boom Mattukarar tribal communities, Kattaikkuttu artists, all daily wage earners, identifying those families that were particularly vulnerable or marginalised.
In Ranipet, Thiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts Katradi has
Distributed 1,483 ration and vegetable kits
Run a Free kitchen for 150+ kids and adults in Oct, Nov, 2020.
Supported police teams with tea and snacks for 26 days during the first intense lockdowns for over 2,470 people.
Shared in challenges faced at home and in the community
In Ranipet, Thiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts Katradi has
Distributed 1,483 ration and vegetable kits
Run a Free kitchen for 150+ kids and adults in Oct, Nov, 2020.
Supported police teams with tea and snacks for 26 days during the first intense lockdowns for over 2,470 people.
Shared in challenges faced at home and in the community
Ration distribution recommenced in May 2021 for tribal communities, traditional performing artists, daily wage earners whose livelihoods had suffered a strong setback with the second wave of COVID 19.
Education Relief: Katradi After-School Centre
During the 2+ years of the pandemic, children attending Government schools faced a prolonged lack of access to education. In the intervening periods between lockdowns, the Katradi center emerged as a de facto school for the children in Kalavai Kootroad. This was crucial because most of the children did not have devices to attend online classes, and their parents were either illiterate or had minimal education, making it challenging to provide adequate support for their education from home.
To address this pressing issue, Katradi started several impactful initiatives to help the children continue their education and cope with learning losses:
We built a library stocked with books, encouraging children to improve their reading skills in Tamil and English.
We partnered with Vidhya Vidhai. for teacher training sessions, training 3 facilitators in Jumping Math, Tamil, and English with an engaging curriculum.
We supported the government's "Illam Thédi Kalvi" initiative, which brought the school to children's doorstep. We provided educational tools like flowcharts, flipcharts, and posters to aid learning losses and reintegration.
We procured books, resources, and three computers to help children better understand the taught concepts.
These initiatives played a vital role in bridging the educational gap caused by the pandemic and provided valuable support to the children in Kalavai Kootroad, ensuring they had access to quality education during challenging times.
Mobile library
We have initiated a project to create a library on wheels to serve youth in villages around Kalavai Kootroad village in Ranipet and Thiruvannamalai districts. The facilitators will come from the young Kattaikoothu artistic community who will use their amazing theatre skills to inspire youngsters to read more. We are also building Koothu literacy modules to help children improve their Tamil and English reading and writing skills. This is a much needed initiative to help children in marginalised communities like the Irular and Boom-boom Mattukarar continue learning when schools remain shut. If you would like to contribute books, games or other educational materials, please contact Sangeeta Isvaran at issangeeta@yahoo.com
Free kitchen
In August and September, 2020, the Katradi After-School Centre at Kalavai Kootroad started a free kitchen, feeding kids who were falling into malnutrition since Government schools hadn't started and they could not access that one meal a day. Katradi facilitators lobbied local government bodies to provide the rations allocated to families with children to supplement the noon meal scheme. The free kitchen was closed when parents received their rations and also finally got work and could provide for their children.
The free kitchen has re-opened now and runs on the weekends.
