The residents of L. Malaiyur, a hilly hamlet in Sirumalai Reserve Forest area near Lingavadi, were in for a pleasant surprise on Sunday as members of the volunteers collective, ‘Vaa Nanba,’ landed there with goodies.
M.C. Saravanan, one of the coordinators of ‘Vaa Nanba’, said that they chose L. Malaiyur for their weekly volunteering activity after they heard that many students from the village had cleared Class 10 and 12 examinations despite the village having no road connectivity.
“They have to trek for more than an hour in the hilly terrain to reach the main road. Bus connectivity is also not proper. We wanted to appreciate them for achieving despite these odds,” he said.
A. Rahman, another coordinator, said that the group touched base some of the villagers before hand to understand their needs. “There are about 100 students in the village, of whom many wanted school bags and stationery items,” he said.
“Though there is plenty of open space for the children and youngsters to play, they did not have any play materials like ball, bat or net. We provided them those items as well,” said M. Kali, a key member of ‘Vaa Nanba.’
B. Sundar, another organiser, pointed to the lack of medical facilities in the village. He said that the group was contemplating to set up a clinic with the help of a nursing graduate from the village. “Some private companies have assured to help us in the initiative,” he said. “Every household in the village has cattle. We are also planning to arrange a veterinary doctor who can visit the village at least once a fortnight,” he added.
