ABOUT US / HISTORY
After the Tsunami of December 2004, Mrs. (Prof. Dr.) Shyama V. Ramani, an Indian economist based in France, adopted an isolated coastal village called Kameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, India. During the first two years, she worked closely in collaboration with the NGO SCOPE, and its founder, Mr. M. Subburaman, who brought to her attention the importance of sanitation coverage in India. Together, they began to work on installing ecosan or ecological toilets in the village of Kameshwaram that had been devastated by the Tsunami.
During the first 18 months, the activities in Kameshwaram were managed in collaboration with the student association SOS, of the Grenoble School of Business, France.
Then as the activities in Kameshwaram intensified, the non-profit organization Association Un-Ami (meaning "a friend" in French) was created in Reims, France in February 2006. This was followed by the creation of the Trust Friend-in-Need in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, in June 2006, as a sister organization to Association Un-Ami.
FIN is supported by families in Europe, USA, and India. All fundraising and administrative work of Association Un-Ami and Trust FIN is carried out by volunteers.
Our objective is to help the village of Kameshwaram attain fundamental developmental goals like income security, basic sanitation and good health standards, gender equality and security for children through the introduction of innovations (new to Kameshwaram) in the form of new structures, new technology, new management routines and new social norms.