Association Un Ami

Association Un-Ami

Origins: In the aftermath of the devastating Asian tsunami of December 26, 2004, an international Franco-Indian Reconstruction Project (FIR) was initiated by Mrs. (Dr.) Shyama V. Ramani,  President of the Franco-Indian Association of Grenoble, France (Ganga-Isere) in January 2005 as part of the world-wide response.  It was a project entirely organized by individuals on a voluntary basis. Its initial objective was to help 3 villages in Tamil Nadu, India that had been severely damaged by the Tsunami of December 2005, attain fundamental developmental goals like income security, basic sanitation and health standards, gender equality and security for children.

The group increased during 2005, individuals from all the world joined, target villages were identified in Tamil Nadu, a French NGO and an Indian NGO were identified and the projects were defined. In February 2006, Association Un-Ami was created in Reims, France by Shyama V. Ramani and Christine Honore, to centralize and coordinate the project. To coordinate the activities in India, another non-profit –  Friend In Need India Trust (FIN) was  created in India in 2006 as a charity. Over time, from three villages, we opted to work with only one of the villages, namely Kameswaram village. The mission of Association Un Ami is realised through its partnership with FIN.

Evolution: Families, friends, colleagues and students of the founders have supported and continue to support the projects of Association Un Ami via Friend In Need India. Association Un Ami has also received grants from Dotation Nord-Sud (of the French Ministry of External Affairs), the Municipality of the city of Reims, and the company Yves Rocher, renowned for its engagement with sustainability and most recently, the UNDP.

Since over a decade, Association Un-Ami has been supported mainly by the family members and friends of the co-founders of Association Un-Ami, who have a close emotional attachment to India and are committed to support its socio-economic development.  A few French/Francophone students also help us each year. Our mission is aligned to those of Friend In Need India Trust (FIN)  namely to develop effective solutions for problems related to sanitation, waste management and hygiene behaviour, which are environmentally friendly and socially just – adapted to rural, peri-urban and urban zones. We support both divisions of  FIN and hope that the knowledge sharing involved will help all developing countries and contribute to the leadership position of Europe in sustainability, international cooperation, peace and climate resilience.