“I have six children; two of them are suffering from physical disabilities. Since my husband is no more, I am the sole bread-earner and my children are completely dependent on me. The floods of 2015 had completely damaged our house. Since we couldn’t afford repairing the house, we used to keep it covered with sarees and other pieces of cloth to protect ourselves,” recollects Kuppi from Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu floods of 2015, we all know, had caused unimaginable havoc, claiming over 500 lives and causing damage to the houses of more than 30 lakh families. As part of its Tamil Nadu Flood Rehabilitation Programme, ActionAid India, with support from Cipla Foundation, started constructing disaster-resilient houses for families of persons with disability (PwDs) in Tuticorin and Kancheepuram in partnership with Centre for Community Services (CCS), Human Resource Development Foundation (HRDF) and Society For Rights of All Women with Disability (SFRAWD). All the houses are disability-friendly with provision of ramps. These houses – 10 in Tuticorin and 5 in Kancheepuram – were recently handed over to the beneficiary families. While the Tuticorin house-warming ceremony took place on January 30-31, the one in Kancheepuram was organized on February 1. “Now that we have a new house, we feel safe and happy. We no longer have to worry about the roof leaking or the damaged walls. We are grateful to ActionAid India and Cipla Foundation for their support,” said a relieved Kuppi.

In addition, in partnership with Thozhamai and SFRAWD, 4 families of women with disability were provided livelihood support in the form of small shops. The handing-over of these shops was held on January 21 in Chennai.