India: Help when the sea fell silent
A fishing family fights to secure their livelihood
For two years, Raghu Dasu’s boats returned empty. Chemical waste had poisoned the sea off Andhra Pradesh, his home. Yet the family has not stopped fighting and praying. They also received support from “Jesus Loves Ministries”, a Christian aid organisation that has been working with EBM INTERNATIONAL for many years.
When the sun rises over the Bay of Bengal, Raghu Dasu is already out at sea. Ever since he was a young man, the sea has been his home, his workplace and his livelihood. Together with his two brothers, his sister and her adult children, the 48-year-old belongs to one of the many large fishing families who have lived off the sea for generations.
Every trip out to sea is an investment that demands courage, faith and perseverance: a fishing trip lasts two to three days. Two boats, a net up to a kilometre long, diesel for the engines, provisions for around 30 people on board and ice to keep the catch cool – the stakes are high. A few years ago, all this was still worthwhile. The families were able to send their children to school and rebuild their houses on the coast time and again whenever a storm destroyed them. Raghu Dasu’s three sons, too, looked to the future with confidence: the two eldest had studied business administration and history, whilst the youngest was ready to begin his university studies.
When the sea becomes a desert
Then, around two years ago, the sea fell silent. Industrial plants in the region began discharging their waste water directly into the sea. Schools of fish failed to appear; dead animals floated bloated on the surface. “The sea was once like a mother to us – now we return empty-handed,” says Pastor Samarpana Kumar, who heads the charity Jesus Loves Ministries and has been supporting the region’s fishing families for years.
For families like Raghu Dasu’s, this environmental disaster meant near ruin. Every trip without a catch meant no income, whilst the diesel and the crew’s rations had long since been paid for. In order to be able to continue fishing at all, many families took out loans at high interest rates. Some moved on – to Odisha, to Maharashtra, as far as Goa – in search of fishing grounds that still yielded a catch. When the boats returned empty, all that remained was a growing mountain of debt. When asked what would become of his sons, Raghu Dasu replies succinctly:
“Although my sons went to university, hunger has forced them all to go out fishing every day.”
This is how deadlocked and hopeless the situation feels for many in the fishing community. Studying, learning a well-paid trade, escaping the dependence on and dangers of the sea – that was the hope of so many. In the end, they find themselves back in the boat, hoping there will soon be something to eat.
Praying, protesting – and having faith
Together with the fishing community, Pastor Samarpana Kumar took to the streets to protest against the pollution of the sea. The congregation prayed on the boats for the healing of the water that means so much to them. A promise from the state government to resolve the problem had no visible effect. For Raghu Dasu’s family, this meant waiting, hoping and finding a way to survive the period without an income.
Jesus Loves Ministries has been active here for a long time: providing help when income is insufficient, or when storms or floods destroy people’s livelihoods. Children from fishing families can be cared for in a children’s home, where they also receive a school education. Other girls and boys are supported through tutoring programmes. Women can learn an additional trade to support their families. Fishing families receive help to repair their damaged nets.
Hope and new prospects
When Raghu Dasu’s family’s boats brought fish on board again for the first time, it was a small miracle for everyone. The sea has not yet fully recovered – catch yields remain uncertain and nobody knows how long the families will be able to support themselves through fishing alone.
That is why, in the long term, further training programmes are to be developed to open up new career paths for both young and older people in the fishing community. For although the once-silent sea is filling with life again and providing for more and more families, the future remains uncertain. Raghu Dasu and his family have learnt that God provides for them, even when the sea does not. And he sustains them through every challenge.
Thanksgiving Campaign: Living Water and the Bread of Life
Where clean drinking water and a reliable supply of drinking water are lacking, people like Samarpana Kumar and initiatives such as Jesus Loves Ministries are needed: they offer hope, pray, fight for change and provide practical help. In India, EBM INTERNATIONAL supports food distribution schemes in various locations, such as the milk and egg programmes or the Salvation Army’s meals for the poor. Agricultural training ensures better harvests and thus secures the food supply.
To mark the Thanksgiving season, we invite you to support such projects worldwide. Your donation helps to provide the means of livelihood and to invite people to faith in Jesus Christ – the living water and the bread of life.
