Hammers
beat a steady rhythm in Akaraipattu, where dozens of new homes
are being built on land close to some of Sri Lanka’s most
spectacular and unspoilt beaches. Despite their beauty, these
beaches in the eastern district of Ampara were the scene of
devastation when the tsunami hit two years ago. Ampara’s
coastline bore the full brunt of the tsunami. Over 10,400 people
died and more than 21,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed.
In total, 98,000 houses along Sri Lanka’s coastline needed
to be rebuilt.
Two years on and the signs of recovery are everywhere. Families
such as the Naheems are at the forefront of the re-building
effort. A.C Naheem, who makes a living from making and selling
sweets, discusses the construction of an external wall with
the team of builders that he has employed to help him rebuild
his home. His wife Fatima, keeps a close eye on five of their
nine children who are playing in the yard.
“After we lost our home we lived in the town’s mosque
and then moved to a government owned building with dozens of
other families, but moved out because it was too cramped and
lacked basic facilities. We moved several times again in the
past year from one rented house to another and then finally
managed to repair the damage to our house enough so that we
could come back and live here,” explains Fatima.
The Naheems are rebuilding their home with support from phase
2 of the government’s owner-driven housing programme,
which is supported largely through a contribution of 10 million
US dollar from the Swedish Red Cross. A change in policy last
December meant that on the east coast, the no-build buffer zone
created by the government was relaxed from 200 to 100 metres.
This meant that the Naheems – together with approximately
12,000 other families living along Sri Lanka’s coast –
could return to rebuild their homes. Their damaged home lay
just over 100 metres from the sea and they were able to qualify
for a government grant which would help them buy building materials
and employ local craftsmen such as masons and carpenters.
Next door, Rosabebe Pakeer is trailed by her two-and-a-half-year-old
daughter and elder son as she walks through her almost completed
house on the site where her former home once stood. She chats
to some of the workers and inspects progress on the plastering
of the walls.
“At one point after the tsunami we lived in a shelter
made out of wooden poles and plastic sheets. My children were
constantly sick. I could not bear it any longer and was so frustrated
and depressed by it all that I left and lived away from my family
for a short while,” she says.
Rosabebe is now back with her family in a rented house which
has no windows, water or sanitation facilities. The family has
been visiting the new house to use the toilet and get water.
“It will be so good when the house is complete and we
can finally settle,” she says with a tired smile.
The funding provided by the Swedish Red Cross will go towards
helping thousands of families to rebuild or repair their damaged
homes across several communities in the east and south of the
country. In Akaraipattu, some of the house-holders receiving
government grants also receive top-up grants from other donors
such as the German Red Cross who provide technical guidance
and support to families who have limited knowledge about construction
projects.
Further north along the coast lies the town of Saintamaruthu
where the Australian Red Cross is providing top-up funding to
300 families as part of the Community Recovery and Reconstruction
Partnership. The partnership is a unique alliance comprised
of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, the Sri Lanka Red Cross and UN HABITAT.
The partnership sets out to empower communities who are involved
in rebuilding their houses by enabling them to design, manage
and construct their own houses using local labour. Technical
assistance is provided by Red Cross Red Crescent partners and
UN HABITAT, which has skilled engineers and technical officers
present on all sites. The Sri Lankan Red Cross Society has community
mobilizers working with all communities to assist in the rebuilding
of community infrastructure and livelihoods.
The site at Saintamaruthu is a hive of activity. Abdul Cader
owns a tea shop on the beach and has so far completed two rooms
of his house. “I am building the house in stages, room
by room. I get information on where to find the best deals so
I buy the gravel in Ampara and the bricks come from Saintamaruthu.
This way I can save enough money and build an extra bedroom.”
Since the tsunami, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has built
or provided funding towards the construction of over 6,000 homes
out of which 5,000 are being built using the owner-driven approach.
By 2008, the aim is to have supported the construction of almost
30,000 houses.
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A
mason worker builds a wall at the house A.C.Naheem and
his family are building in Akkaraipattu, eastern Sri Lanka.
The Naheems are rebuilding their home with support from
phase 2 of the government’s owner-driven housing
programme, which is supported largely through a contribution
of 10 million US dollar from the Swedish Red Cross. (p15199)
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Two
years on and the signs of recovery are everywhere. Families
such as the Naheems are at the forefront of the re-building
effort. (p15198)
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Since
the tsunami, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement has built
or provided funding towards the construction of over 6,000
homes out of which 5,000 are being built using the owner-driven
approach. By 2008, the aim is to have supported the construction
of almost 30,000 houses. (p15197)
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