Thursday 5th March - Dorothy's entry

I felt good today after the retail therapy in FabIndia yesterday. Others had gone for a massage or an Astanga Yoga class or followed up contacts made earlier.
So today we're up early to get away from Chennai and get to Kuvatar by coach and the Grassroots Foundation on our way to Tranquebar.

First stop is with Dalit fisherwomen who catch prawns and crabs by diving down to the bottom of the river when they feel them brushing by their feet. The Tsunami caused huge problems for their livelihoods. They have no choice about making a living for themselves, the price for prawns varies between R100 and R200 a kilo. One woman we met has been working all her life fishing - she's 50. They get no government help at all. There are new houses being built by the river but they seem to be for other fisherfolk.

Seemingly the Grassroots Foundation www.grassrootsindia.org previously worked in urban areas but since the tsunami moved to help Dalit (lower caste)children in 15 coastal villages.
The staff we meet are great upstairs where there is a cool breeze which helps me with the incredible heat ( and the odd hot flush), many of them working with Children's Rights group, helping them with homework clubs,re-registering for school if they've dropped out and they've formed a children's parliament which discuss concerns like early marriage and human rights.The Fullstop campaign they've started is great - a card is sold for a rupee round the houses stating that this family disapproves of early marriage ( the girls would like the age raised to 21) is placed on the front door to spread the word of the campaign. Some interesting questions come up - they wanted to know the average age of marriage in UK. The younger generation are being offered skills to allow them choice in the future - they recycle unused newspapers to make pretty containers by rolling the sheets up finely and weaving to make baskets. Some make disposable plates by sewing some leaves together and with paper mould them into a plate with a lip - much preferable to polystyrene. Others are involved with making chutneys for the local market using prawn, ginger,mango, and lime. A refreshing drink of coconut milk is gratefully accepted - it's full of electrolytes don't you know. They are such a happy crowd of people and the village is quite picturesque I could feel the positivity for the future that Grassroots Foundation have brought to the community.

We lunch at a roadside cafe and carry on for 4.5 hours down the coast to Tranquebar or Tharangambadi and the magical place that is Bungalow on the Beach.