India: The Forgotten Ones

Photographs by Fritz Liedtke

  1. The tsunami that hit the southeast coast of India on December 26, 2004, left devastation in its wake. Accurate numbers are difficult to find, but an estimated 10-17,000 Indians died in the disaster. While the loss of life is tragic, those left living on the coast face continued heartache: their nets and boats destroyed, their fields left infertile by saltwater, wells contaminated by seawater and sewage, houses destroyed, governmental aid agencies suffering from politics and attention deficit disorder. Once the shock of tragedy wears off, and media attention wanes, these people are soon forgotten.
  2. Most of the residents in these coastal villages are of the Yanadi tribe. The Yanadi are a native population who live mostly off the land. In the Indian caste system, they are lower than the low: these ‘Scheduled Tribes’ rank lower even than the Untouchables (known also as Dalits, or Oppressed Ones). Even their name signifies this: Yanadi means The Forgotten Ones.
  3. In June of 2005, I traveled to the southeast coast of India to document the post-tsunami relief and rebuilding work in this area.
  4. I traveled with Open Arms International, a relief organization from Portland, Oregon and Manchester, UK. They worked in conjunction with a local Indian organization, ALMA, based in Nellore, Andreh Pradesh, north of Chennai. ALMA has a 20 year history of serving the villages spread along the Indian coast in the Nellore district. They were among the first to provide food, clothing, and new fishing nets to whole villages at a time. They also run an orphanage, have their own farm with which to feed the orphanage, provide medical aid, and training, for the dispirited villagers. ALMA and Open Arms have partnered together to bring long-term medical relief, health education, village rebuilding, well boring, and more to these impoverished areas.
  5. Numerous times during my two weeks in the area, villagers lamented the empty promises and brief aid from the government after the tsunami. So it was especially gratifying to see local people, with help from charitable donors both local and foreign, providing personal touch and attention to these people, the Forgotten Ones.

    The three galleries below contain work from this time in India, documenting the conditions and relief work six months after the tsunami; the people of the Nellore district; and quiet contemplations on the light and form of the area.

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Text, Images, and Design are Copyright 2005, Fritz Liedtke