On the 26th of January 2001, the anniversary of India's 51st republic day, tragedy struck the Indian state of Gujarat when a devastating earthquake brought untold misery and destruction to the people in that region. Several million people were affected and hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed. Thousands of human lives were lost. Schools, hospitals, power grids, water supply and telecommunication networks etc. were severely damaged. The international community galvanised into action in order to provide support and relief to the affected people.

The Dutch Indian community was also a part of these efforts and a number of organisations in The Netherlands joined hands to establish the Gujarat Quake Relief fund with the objective to raise money and construct shelters, schools or healthcare centres in the affected region through recognised NGO's. Over the course of the next few months, funds were raised through individual contributions from the members of the participating organisations and through fund-raisers like movie screening. At the same time, recognised NGO's in India were approached to identify projects that could be feasibly executed with the funds that were raised through the Gujarat Quake Relief Fund. A total of 13 projects were submitted, which were thoroughly screened by the committee of the participating organisations. Finally, the project submitted by CEDRA (Centre for Education Developmental Research and Action) was finalised. The project entailed the construction of a primary school with 12 rooms in the Bhrugupur village of Chuda (Surendranagar District). The school would provide education to 875 students as well as employment to 21 teachers. The sum of 43,524 Euros that was raised as part of the fund-raising campaign was utilised for the purpose of the constructional activity. 

This fund-raising campaign, which began on the night of the devastating earthquake on 26th January 2001, officially ended on the 20th of November 2002 when the constructed school with all the amenities was handed over to Bhrugupur Gram Panchayat. There is every reason to believe that this school would bring joy in the lives of those hundreds of students who would be studying in this school and would provide them, the hope for a better future. The school is named 'the Dutch Indian School' to honour the much valued contribution made by people from this part of the world.

More than anything else, what the project proved beyond doubt was that when thousands of helping hands join forces, then even a small contribution from each of them could make a big difference in the lives of hundreds of people living thousands of miles away. Acts of nature can sometimes leave a trail of misery and destruction in their wake, but an act of kindness - one human to another - can help a long way to give a healing touch and provide that hope necessary for a better tomorrow. 

As written by Asheesh Sastry - Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 
Asheesh was a member of the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Co-ordination Committee. He is also actively working with Indian organisations in The Netherlands such as AADHAAR (An organisation devoted to women welfare, health & academic awareness in rural India - www.aadhaar.com) and DIYA (Dutch Indian Youth Association, www.diya.nl).