In India, church agencies empower women in tsunami-affected areas

Published: 2005-07-19

VAILANKANNI, India (CNS) -- In India, church agencies are working to empower women as they help villagers recover from last December's deadly tsunamis. At the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health at Vailankanni, the Marian Skill Training Center is helping women overcome their loss by providing them with employable skills. More than 1,000 people were killed in the area surrounding the shrine. Among the victims were the father and brother of J. Anandi, an 18-year-old Hindu girl who is blind in one eye. Anandi, who had not completed her schooling, has received instruction at the center for several months. "Earlier, I never believed I could do anything in life. Now, I feel I could do something like others," she said while working on a sewing machine. Some 160 women and young girls -- most of them tsunami victims -- are being trained in tailoring, handicraft-making and computers.

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