(ANS - Chennai)- "Rescue operations started on the morning of 3 December as soon as we realized the severity of the devastation". This is how Fr Raphael Jayapalan, Provincial of Chennai, begins his account of the activities of "Don Bosco Flood Relief "(DBFR), the Salesian rescue team set up to assist the population affected by the floods that occurred in the first few days of December.

All the centres for Youth Ministry have become aid-centres and practically all the Salesian works have been converted into shelters for flood victims. Other Salesian institutions and organizations are busy preparing food kits and other basic necessities.

They also count on the collaboration of about 140 young people of the Salesian Youth Movement, led by Fr Mani Lazar, SDB, and that of several Sisters who are working at the Salesian provincial centre or in various medical fields. The DBFR is bringing aid to some of the people most affected by the floods who are also the most abandoned. They are in 60 villages around Cuddalore, 8 at Chingelpet, 12 at Thiruvallur, 7 at Kancheepuram, and 26 in the slums of Chennai.

Over the space of three days this huge team of people has distributed about 124,000 first aid kits - each containing pre-cooked food and candles.

On the medical front members of DBFR are working to prevent the outbreak and spread of epidemics. The confreres from "Don Bosco" Egmore, in collaboration with other institutions, are giving medical assistance in 11 camps.

The "Don Bosco Institute of Communication Arts" (DBICA) has been working to raise awareness on Social Media of the Salesian relief efforts - under the hashtag #donboscofloodrelief

With a view to future operations, those in charge of DBFR have launched an appeal for cooperation to the institutions that form the "Don Bosco Network".

Published 14/12/2015