Gary Iveson, from Oxfam GB's HumanitarianDepartment, recently visited a remote tribal community in the Ganjam districtof Orissa. He discovered how the women of the village are rebuilding theirlives in the aftermath of the devastating cyclone that struck in October1999
Tribal communities are some of the mostvulnerable groups in the Ganjam district of Orissa. Treated as criminalsduring British rule, they are in the scheduled (lowest) caste, and theyhave long been excluded from receiving assistance by the Indian government.

Earlier this year, I visited the Denotifiedtribe colony. Their village is located in the foothills of the EasternGhat mountain range, which runs through the centre of Ganjam district.To reach the village, I spent two hours bouncing around in the back ofa Land Rover as we made the journey from the nearest definable road alongparched-earth tracks.

Even now, five months after the cyclone,evidence of its devastation remains. Uprooted trees lie scattered acrossthe barren land. Those that had fallen across the dirt track, which providesthe only route to the villages higher up, have been moved to the side.The remaining stumps and root clusters, some as long as ten metres, willprovide evidence of the severity of the cyclone for years to come. Thetrees that remain standing, mainly coconut palms, still have a batteredand bedraggled look, their huge leaves hanging limply. Though it is theseason for coconuts there are none on these trees and there won't be forsome time to come.

The tribal people in this region havea strong sense of pride and cultural heritage. And although I had beentold about their hospitality and community spirit, I was not prepared forthe overwhelming welcome I received and the friendliness and openness fromthose I met. Women from 30 villages had walked up to 10 km to have theopportunity to tell their story. "Ask us anything and we will answer",they said, "you must tell others of our stories".

One woman recounted the day the cyclonehit: "When the cyclone started I collected my mother and three childrentogether and we all sat in the corner of my house. The winds just keptgetting stronger, until finally the wall of my house collapsed. I lostmy 10 year old daughter. My one-and-a-half year old son was injured, andI had to take him to hospital after the winds stopped. He needed sevenstitches and the doctor wanted payment for his work. I had no money, soI went to the Village Women's Centre. They were very kind and gave mesupport."

A few years ago, the women of Denotifiedtribe had been given a few hectares of land by Ganjam's rich landowners.However, this land is largely unable to support the growing of any crops.This meant that until the cyclone struck, the women relied on paid workon other farms.

But the cyclone destroyed much of thelocal farmland, and has deprived them of much of their income. When Oxfam'spartner organisation in Ganjam district, UAA (United Artists Association),arrived in the village, they immediately started a food and cash-for-workprogramme. They worked with Swosti (which means 'good' in a local triballanguage), a local women's community organisation, and gave the women theopportunity to decide which projects would most benefit their community.UAA had worked with Swosti for a number of years, and had found this thebest way of directly benefiting the poorest people.

Their first priority was to rebuild theirhomes. The women then wondered how they could now earn a living. Oxfamhelped the women begin to reclaim some of their land for cultivation, andto work on a rain water harvesting project to channel water to the land."This gave us some independence" they said, "from both theland owners and from reliance on government assistance".

With Oxfam's help, Swosti women's organisationopened a bank account for the savings they made from the food and cash-for-workprogramme. This helped to give the women a say in the running of the village."The men have to listen to us now because we are earning", saidone of the women. "We have different priorities for our money. Wethink of what would be best for our community and our children. We nowhave savings which will help us cope if anything like this should happenagain".