You would definitely have heard about the massive floods in the Kerala by now. The floods were ravaged the state, resulting in the death of at least 357 people, and the displacement of 200,000 people, causing damages to the tune of INR 19,500 crore (USD$ 2.78 billion). As bad as the numbers sound, they don’t speak the real story – hundreds of thousands of people lost everything their owned, their houses, assets, money, loved ones… That feeling when you lose everything you own overnight, it can’t be mentioned in words.
The state of Kerala had not seen a natural disaster of this scale in the past one hundred years. This itself speaks volumes about the spread and extent of the disaster.
In Kochi (the Ernakulam district) the Northern parts – Aluva, Angamaly, etc were badly affected. However, the WordCamp venue (Udyan Convention Centre), as well as most areas in the city of Kochi were unaffected by the same.
Since we had made preparations for WordCamp Kochi in advance, we were fairly confident about conducting the event on schedule (on the 2nd of September 2018). Several people contacted us about the same, and we passed on the same message, as well However, as the floods receded, and as we took stock of the damage caused by the floods, a different picture emerged. Even though our arrangements are in place, it appears to us, that conducting an event – which is a celebration of WordPress, learning, and fun – is definitely inappropriate in this grim situation, where thousands of people are left without a home.
On that note, we would like to announce that we are seriously considering postponing WordCamp Kochi 2018, from September 2nd 2018, to a later date.
We have not finalized anything yet – we are still trying to work out the logistics of the same, as this involves a lot of arrangements to do, and changes to make. However, we will be making a final announcement on the whether we would be postponing the event, as well as future dates of the event (in such a situation), within Wednesday, August 22nd 2018 midnight.
If you are yet to book your flights/trains/buses to WordCamp Kochi, hold your bookings until Wednesday, please – until we are in a position to share a final announcement.
In the meantime, we kindly urge the global WordPress community to help the people of Kerala who have been severely affected. You can make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who have lost everything to flash floods. Please consider donating to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Relief and Development Fund to do your bit fo the people of Kerala. You can make your donation at https://donation.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in/
Additionally, members of the WordPress Communities in Kerala (the Trivandrum, Kochi, and Kozhikode community) have been actively volunteering in different capacities (both individually and collectively) at relief camps. Many of us had volunteered as technical volunteers, to coordinate with rescue missions. Others have donated in cash and kind. Some of us (including some of our co-organizers) suffered severe losses in the floods. Member of our community – active volunteers in the WordPress project as well as our meetups, also had their houses flooded.
On behalf of the global WordPress community, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to the spirit, and the kindness of volunteers all over the world for all their heartfelt contributions to the flood relief operations in Kerala!
Jai WordPress!
If you have any questions on the same, feel free to reach out to us. We’d be happy to guide you in the right direction.
Featured Image Courtesy: News18