As news of Assam floods made rounds on the internet, revealing the horrific visuals of the disaster, Miles2Smile packed the relief bags and turned its winds towards Assam, a state of hills once known for its beauty and now associated with deadly floods. On the 1st of August, we commenced our journey in the wee hours, not knowing when we would come back or if we would even come back.
As we took our flight towards Guwahati, our hopes swelled up too. The images of people pleading for help in our minds were replaced with faces of jubilation, hearts and hands with relief supplies, leading towards normalcy.
With hopes in our mind and soul ready to wade through every challenge, we reached Guwahati in the morning of August 1, from where we took a cab to Sivasagar, the historic town of upper Assam. This upper town is approximately a 7-hour car drive from Guwahati, but the rain made it 12 hours, making us reach Shivsagar at 11:00 PM at night.
Accompanied by the locals, we moved in the internals of Shivsagar with rain adding to the peril and reached Ramu Gaon. Remnants of the house and a heavy, suffocating smell of a mix of damp earth and raw sewage choked us, but it could not stop us. As soon as we reached the devastated spot, we started our survey work. The stories of people wrecked our hearts and crushed them into pieces, which we tried to glue but failed.
As the night was spent in listening to stories and collecting data, the morning was dedicated to relief. The one spark of sunlight represented the long-waiting hope, and we tucked in our medical camp. The Ramu Gaon was devastated; people were injured, and their homes were washed away. This medical camp shone a silver lining. As many as 110 people stood in the queue with broken limbs, infected skin, and bodies soaked in fever. Under the supervision of a medical professional, the survivors were treated, their wounds were stitched, and our promise was fulfilled with new ones taking birth.
The camp was removed only to be tucked in other parts of Assam—the next one being Nepali Khuti, the Assam Village Left in Ruins by the Worst Flood in Half a Century. The path was difficult, but it was a light the dawn was willing to answer.
On the 3rd of August we reached Nepali Khuti, with the same pungent, choking smell and the same devastated home, trees uprooted, lives devastated. By now we were able to arrange a local ambulance for our work, which snowballed our relief work, but the devastation was swelling too. If Ramu Goan broke our hearts, Nepali Khuti crushed it further.
The Ramu Goan medical camp helped us gauge the suffering; hence, what Nepali Khuti demonstrated to us was already deciphered.
The floodwaters receded, but the struggle was lingering, with the threat of diseases compounding the challenges. However, amidst these challenges, the medical camp made people speak the language of gratitude, taking us to our next destination— Muliyaghata
By now our bodies were exhausted, with a 102-degree fever running over them, but our spirits were high. The way towards Muliyaghata was the most challenging; floodwater was still there. Taking a cab or ambulance was the risk we could not afford. Our eyes could capture the devastation, but our minds refused to accept it. While we were battling with emotional turmoil, the news of a lady stuck in mud surfaced. We dropped everything and moved towards her.
On our way we met the SDRF team, which boarded us on electric motorboats and took us to the lady. Her leg was broken with her belongings washed away. Tears flowed in her eyes in line with the flood. We washed her tears, patched the wounds, and promised her to rebuild what we can by providing solar panel sets, mattresses, bed sheets, pillows, and essential rations.
As we handed over the essentials to her, tears of happiness booked a room in her life, but people of Nepali Kuthi were still waiting for us to build their rooms. We ventured towards them and promised to build homes and provide essentials to 100 families.
About Miles2Smile: The Miles2Smile Foundation, established six years ago, is committed to making a meaningful difference in marginalized communities across India. From responding to the crisis during the pandemic to its continuous work in education and advocacy, the foundation remains devoted to fostering a more inclusive and equitable society. The foundation work for the survivors of mob lynching, communal violence, demolition, and hate crime, creating their lives better than their devastation.
Other Glimpses of our Assam Medical Relief Work
