On Phone Call:

Dharmendar has again left for Saharsa with a new team of volunteers. A meeting in Patna was organized in Pratham office. Sanjay and the Pratham team have just returned after a inspection trip to the flood areas and relief camps. Everyone is in shock at the amount of loss.

There are a lot of volunteers from different parts of the country coming for the relief work. Two base camps are being set up in the flood areas where volunteers can stay and from there go to work in the relief camps. Some of the volunteers will also coordinate the collection and sending of relief materials from Patna.

Saharsa has lesser water and so most of the people running away from the other districts have come to stay in the camps in Saharsa - there are over 2 lakh people who have come into Saharsa and are staying in relief camps - causing a huge overcrowding and hygiene problem. There is very high need now for medical camps and mobile health clinics. 3 of our mobile clinics are running now and we will be starting more soon.

Pratham is using all its state offices for relief collection and a nation wide network of material collection centers have been set up.

Please see the details for where materials can be dropped off in different cities here: http://eurekachild.org/biharflood/statewise.php

So far we have received 208 Gunny bags of clothes. Goonj Chennai has donated 100 gunny bags of clothes. We have also received 87 boxes of the medicine Medocodene (Paracetamol + Codamine phosphate, about 3 Lakh medicines) from Meenakshi Mission Hospital in Madurai.

Balaji Sampath has left this morning for Bihar to help with some of the relief work coordination. A team from our office will be leaving next week and will go with the relief materials. Volunteers who want to go to Bihar for relief work should get in touch with us before Saturday so that the trip can be planned. They should also be physically fit and be ready to work for a minimum of 10 days.

Many corporates have been approached for material and financial help, and collection drives are on in companies. The website has been updated to give the list of donors who have been contributing online through the eurekachild website.