Appeal for aid as Calcutta gripped by flood disaster

MAUREEN FOREST doesn’t do despair, but if she did she would probably be forgiven for buckling under the strain of trying to put food in hungry mouths on the mean streets of Calcutta.

India's largest city is caught in the grip of the worst floods in memory and many of the city's residents face hunger, disease and death. It is giving aid agencies, like the Hope Foundation which Maureen directs, all they can do to cope.

"The rains have been non-stop for three days now. Hundreds of thousands of people have been made homeless," said Maureen, speaking from the beleaguered city yesterday.

As she waded through waist-deep flood waters to get to the worst affected areas, she could see the devastation all around. "The situation on the streets is horrendous. It is absolutely pathetic to see little children with no proper clothes and nowhere to go. They have absolutely nothing."

Although the Hope Foundation is, strictly speaking, a development and not an emergency relief agency, distinctions like that pale when faced with the scale of such a disaster.

"We cannot sit by and do nothing," said Maureen. "We have to help. There is very little being done for the people here."

For the past two nights she and her co-workers have been bringing food, medicine and plastic sheeting to some of those worst affected. The fear now is that the deluge and the swelling of the mighty Ganges river will herald an outbreak of life-threatening diseases such as dysentery and cholera. "We are giving as much medical help as we can. Last night we managed to feed about 1,000 people. The rains are so devastating that they cannot light fires to cook. Some have had nothing to eat for days. We are distributing parcels of bananas, boiled eggs and bread." Such aid does not come cheap and the Hope Foundation's funds are taking a battering.

"What has never ceased to amaze all of us in the Hope Foundation is the fact that whenever we have asked, we have received. People's generosity towards our work has always overwhelmed us, but equally it is not something we can take for granted that is the main reason for launching this appeal for the flood victims in Calcutta."

Send what you can to The Hope Foundation, AIB Bank, 66 South Mall, Cork. A/C 50677162 or 1 Clover Lawn, Skehard Road, Cork.