We arrived in Sri Lanka just six months on from Boxing Day 2004 and the newspapers, TV, magazine articles and, of course, the people themselves and our own observations have raised a great deal of emotion within us.
We have managed to visit some of the worst affected regions on the south and west coasts. The extent of the devastation is mind-numbing, the statistics staggering:
Total families affected = 248,266, displaced persons = 553,287, deaths = 31,229, missing = 4,698, injured = 23,176, damaged houses = 68,779, partially-damaged houses = 43,405, lost jobs = 275,000 (34% in fishing industry).
Whole towns have been swept away with only concrete bases remaining. In places, partial buildings are left with gaping holes in the walls, roofs lost, boats wrecked, some still in trees. You will be only too familiar with some of the scenes from TV coverage.
The amount of work that has taken place to clear beaches, trees & masonry, to repair roads and bridges and generally rebuild is a remarkable achievement in six months; e.g. 31,000 transitional shelters completed, 480,000 non-food relief items (such as cooking utensils, mosquito nets) provide by the UN to affected families, 3,109 school in-a-box kits provided, 172 schools cleaned, 104 temporary teaching facilities out of a planned 277, 227,000 school uniforms (some sold by fathers for money), 10,198 boats repaired or replaced out of 17,000.
There is now what may be described as organised devastation with the major debris cleared away. Masonry is now piled up in rows, reclaimed bricks stacked in piles for rebuilding, fallen trees chopped into logs, temporary bridges erected, 650 wells cleaned by UNICEF of salt water and many transitional houses (like rough garden sheds) erected to replace the tents initially used. Some houses have been rebuilt, but the house programme is way behind schedule. There are still tent villages and, where their water is still contaminated, people get water from visiting tankers. Food and medical help is still needed in many places and there is much evidence of local and international aid effort in place.
The train we viewed on TV, where so many people lost their lives when it was overturned, sits on a stretch of now disused track as a monument to those who perished in the tragedy. There are so many difficult and upsetting accounts concerning the clearing of bodies.
We have heard of how many people survived due to a change in routine or commitment that put them in a different but safe place on that day and time. There will be an untold number of circumstances where the outcome was the opposite but, of course, those stories will never be told
We have also heard of so many accounts of what is happening to help rebuild people�s lives � too many to recount but, sadly, including those of corruption and dishonesty, not only among organisations, but between local people themselves.
When we constructed our website prior to beginning voluntary work, we said that Sri Lanka was a stunningly beautiful country but with huge humanitarian issues in which we wanted to get involved and help in a small way. Little did we know of the disaster that was to strike and of the extra burden of need created. Sri Lanka is still beautiful and, indeed, the much relied-upon tourism industry is thankfully beginning to pick up. While the attention of the world focuses on rebuilding post-tsunami (and there is still so much to do), our own projects need our help just as much as before.
These projects come under the umbrella of Shanti Animation Movement, a multi-faith organisation that was established in 1977 to bring relief and welfare to families living in shanties along a canal in South Colombo. There is extreme poverty here, insufficient to eat, inadequate housing (often worse than the transitional tsunami houses we saw), bad sanitation, drug abuse and a low standard of education.
Shanti was started by an Italian priest, Father Catalano, who still works tirelessly here at the age of 84. There are a number of projects, pre- and post school clubs, orphanages, elders� clubs and support to a government school for girls. In addition, there is much support provided to those now living in tsumami camps - playschools for children, food parcels, new fishing nets, bicycles given to locals to get back to work, medical support and vocational training such as sewing � all to help get people back into employment.
We have been involved with a number of worthwhile activities such as pre- and after-school clubs, providing play interaction and teaching basic English. Deborah has been to a girls� school to observe English teaching with a view to providing support. John has been into a boys� orphanage to help at sports day and is helping a nursing student improve her English. We�ve also been working at an elders� community centre (a shed!) doing crafts and trying out our Sinhala (the local language) to much hilarity. We have packed food parcels for tsunami camps and, after work, been with other volunteers to visit some of the camps which are often tented villages housing displaced families. Some of these are in old army barracks, another in a disused sawmill. Privacy is non-existent and water and sanitation always an issue. Many of these people have lost family members, their houses and all their belongings. They are lucky to be alive but don�t have an easy existence. We play games with the children and �talk� with the adults.
We�ll continue to work hard on behalf of all of you who so generously sponsored us and our projects.
