Quality takes time

Fr. John L. Noronha, former national director of Caritas India [Caritas]

Fr. John L. Noronha, former national director of Caritas India, talks about the post-tsunami challenges still faced by the group, and how it profits from strong links both within and outside India

What headline do you want to read on the first anniversary of the tsunami about the Caritas response?

Such a headline is difficult to think of. Our effort and achievements might not come out prominently in national newspapers, maybe more in the regional ones. “Caritas rehabilitates tsunami-victims” would be nice. I hope our beneficiaries will tell the media something like “Thanks to Caritas, we’re back to normal” or “Thanks to Caritas we’re back on our feet”.

Which headline would you not like to read?

There will be a lot of criticism because we cannot always meet the expectations of the people. I accept that the public will compare the work of the different organisations involved in the tsunami response.

But we are a big player and we don’t want our houses to be destroyed after two or three years. Other agencies complete and go but we don’t think like this. Quality takes time.

Which sectors of work need special attention?

Women should be taken more care of. They have the biggest trauma but they don’t know how to deal with it.

Psychosocial work has to be managed by keeping in mind the local situation of a particular area, their culture, the way of living, the way they react. Alternative livelihoods is another big issue. And advocacy, step by step, will become more important.

What is your personal impression of the Caritas tsunami response?

Kerala for several reasons is ahead in the response and housing will be finished there this year. In Tamil Nadu housing will take another two or three years. This is a big task. But meanwhile the livelihood program is going on.

In Andhra Pradesh I don’t see a lot of problems. For the Andamans we need another five years.

A lot of buildings, schools and institutions have been destroyed and the government is still planning how to handle all this.

Some see the tsunami as a chance for the development of coastal areas. In what way is this a chance for Caritas?

The tsunami work plays a big role in strengthening the interactions between the dioceses, Caritas India and the international Caritas network.

The dioceses are our natural partners which is to our advantage compared to other organisations that may have a lot of money but do not know where to use it. Without our local partners, our response would be impossible.

In most affected areas, the Catholic population is a small minority. How did you have to keep this in mind when organising the response?

There is no doubt that the Catholic part of the Indian population is only 1.6%, and the Christian population 2.6 % per cent. But, despite this, Caritas is one of the largest organisations in the tsunami response.

The government has always appreciated our contribution to education, health, and social work. It is precisely because of our initiative and the progress of our work that the government of Gujarat appointed us as the NGO’s co-ordinator for the shelter sector after the Gujarat earthquake. I don’t think that even one per cent of the people who benefited were Christians.

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