As planned, school started again in Penthakata on Monday the 17th of June. In addition to attending school, the first new trees were planted on the school grounds.

After the devastating cyclone Fani hit the fishing village of Penthakata hard at the beginning of May and the Usthi school in the village was no exception, the clean-up work has progressed so far that the safety of our school children has been restored. Therefore the school could be resumed last week.

In addition to the usual lessons, the school children are also actively involved in the reconstruction of their campus. After a large part of the trees on the campus could not withstand the storm, our school children helped to plant new trees.

Usthi is extremely grateful for the great support after the cyclone and is pleased that this has made it possible to resume classes within a short time.

One month after the devastating cyclone “Fani”, parts of the state of Odisha are still without electricity. At the Penthakata School and in the surrounding fishing village the power supply could not yet be restored. The renovation has progressed so far that our students will be able to attend school again starting next Monday. 

After the cyclone “Fani”, the families of our pupils and other severely affected families were able to obtain food and building materials from our partner organisation in order to make ends meet in the critical phase immediately after the storm. Until mid-May, hot meals were distributed daily for about 600 people. In addition to food and building materials, clothing was also handed out if urgently needed. By now, a slight normality has returned and the distribution of food by our partner is no longer necessary.

It will be a long time before Penthakata has fully recovered from the storm. The power supply has not been restored yet, contrary to big state promises. Fishing, which is the income base of most families in Penthakata, is still hardly possible. Apart from the damage to the boats, the lack of ice to cool the fish makes it impossible to resume fishing after the storm. Tourism in Puri will also recover only slowly, endangering the existence of many local people. Usthi hopes that the promised state aid will soon be implemented and that the people will be able to regain their livelihood.

Also the Penthakata School is still without electricity. The clean-up work on the school grounds is in full swing. Next Monday our students can finally go back to school. Currently, the two graduation classes are taught in the mornings outdoors so that they do not suffer any disadvantage for their upcoming final exams due to the interruption of the school year.

We hope that some of the damaged school material can be replaced by local donations. Since the costs for the basic supplies are slightly below the budget and the exchange rate was in favour of Usthi, the further costs for the reconstruction of the school will probably not significantly exceed the original emergency aid budget of CHF 55’000. Every contribution is still of great importance for our Usthi children in Penthakata.

We are overwhelmed by the great solidarity of our donors. Thank you very much for your support. It is beautiful, to be able to count on you.