June
marked a fresh start for B. Jothimuni and his family. After
their six-roomed beach front house in the southern fishing community
of Tallala was lost to the tsunami, home for the family of four
was a cramped two-roomed shack provided by a non-governmental
organization. On 16 June the family moved to a new two-bed roomed
house 500 metres inland, built by the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Sri Lanka Red
Cross Society.
The family have few possessions – four plastic chairs,
some cooking pots, mattresses and some clothes, which are squeezed
into a tiny three-wheeler taxi and driven to the new house.
They make an extra journey for a huge refrigerator that dominated
the shelter and now sits in their new kitchen.
“This is the only thing we salvaged from our old home
and it cost half a month’s salary to repair,” explains
Jothimuni who also lost his job when the hotel where he worked
as a security guard was washed away.
Despite their new surroundings, old habits die hard. Used to
queuing for a water ration from a communal water tank, Jothimuni’s
teenaged daughter, Omali, fills plastic buckets from the kitchen
tap, forgetting that, thanks to the American Red Cross, their
new house is connected to the main water supply.
“What matters now is that we have our friends and neighbours
around us again,” says Omali. “Our shelter had no
privacy as it was in the grounds of the local hospital. Now
I feel secure.”
Their new home is one 18 houses built on a site at Kanankewatte
in the southern district of Matara. The site is close to the
original home and the neighbours all hail from the same community.
Each house has two bedrooms, a kitchen, an outside bathroom
and a small verandah.
For the International Federation’s construction engineer
Ravi Nishantha, completing the site on time has been a major
challenge.
“It was a patch of steeply-sloped jungle which required
a lot of preparation,” he explains. Tendering for consultants
and contractors and verifying the beneficiaries who would receive
the houses delayed building by a few months.
“In some respects building houses is the easy part but
we are rebuilding entire communities, which includes infrastructure
such as roads, piped water and electricity,” explains
Nishantha.
Jothimuni’s neighbour is T.H. Upali who lost his boat
and fishing gear as well as his eldest son.
“I have to rent a boat and give 20 per cent of my income
to the boat owner. Before the tsunami I used to employ 28 people.”
Upali’s wife, Padmalata, is anxious to embark on a new
business venture.
“I plan to make ‘short eats’ such as fish
rolls and string hoppers to sell to local shops. I couldn’t
have done this in our shelter because the kitchen was unhygienic
and the rain always came in through the roof.”
Support from the International Federation to communities such
as Kanankewatte continues after the houses are complete.
“We are taking an approach that also addresses livelihoods,”
explains Marc Fumeaux, the International Federation’s
livelihoods coordinator. “Micro finance such as cash to
families who have difficulty accessing credit could be the best
solution to enable people to regain a degree of economic security.”
Across Sri Lanka, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement’s housing programme shows progress. Over 8000
houses will be built on 71 sites. Over 2,350 homes have been
started and over 200 already completed.
“We have had to be adaptable,” explains Al Panico,
the International Federation’s head of delegation in Sri
Lanka. The original plan had been to build at new sites. Now,
in line with a change in government policy, the International
Federation is helping families to rebuild their own homes, in
a partnership, the Community Recovery and Reconstruction Partnership,
which also includes the Sri Lanka Red Cross, the World Bank
and United Nations Habitat. The partnership’s first grants
to 300 families in Ampara district will start in July.
“More people are now opting to return to their original
homes. Owner-driven housing is not only cost effective, it allows
communities to play a much greater role in reconstruction,”
explains Panico.
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The International Federation and Sri Lanka Red Cross Society
permanent housing site in Kananke Watte in Matara. The
International Federation constructed 18 new homes on this
site. (p14167)
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Kandyan
drummers lead the procession of officials attending the
opening ceremony of the Kananke Watte site. (p14168)
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Jothimuni,
his wife Charlotte and their daughter Omali outside their
new home provided by the International Federation in the
Kananke Watte site in Matara. (p14169)
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Upali
and his family outside their temporary shelter which sits
on the foundations of their original home in Tallala,
southern Sri Lanka. (p14170)
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Upali
holds the keys to his new home provided by the International
Federation on the Kananke Watte site. (p14171)
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