The
Red Cross Red Crescent is moving quickly to install water and
sanitation systems for 78 families who have resettled near the
southern city of Galle after losing their homes in the December
2004 tsunami.
The arrival of the families in Walahanduwa placed pressure on
the village’s existing sanitation infrastructure, with
conditions around homes deteriorating to the point where residents
faced a renewed threat of illness and disease.
When local officials from the government of Sri Lanka’s
Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA) appealed to humanitarian
agencies for help, the American Red Cross and the Sri Lanka
Red Cross Society stepped up to address the community’s
emerging health and hygiene needs.
“While the American Red Cross has many long-term projects
underway to restore tsunami-affected communities, we cannot
forget the basic needs of people like those in Walahanduwa,”
explained Ricardo Caivano, Senior Field Representative in Sri
Lanka for the American Red Cross. “This project will have
a quick impact, helping to reduce illness and improving the
environment for these families.”
When American Red Cross experts made their initial assessment
of the village, they found that many women and children were
suffering from rashes and open sores on their feet and legs
that came from simply walking around the village or playing
outside.
The November 2006 monsoon rains flooded Walahanduwa, a village
built at the base of surrounding hills, overflowing the streets
and yards with black water and raw sewage. Besides the obvious
health hazards, stagnant pools of unclean water serve as an
ideal breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes, an especially
dangerous situation in Sri Lanka, where thousands of people
suffer from illnesses such as dengue, chikungunya fever, malaria
and japanese encephalitis each year.
“When it rains, we can’t even send our children
to school,” said Mrs. S.K.G. Chandrika, a resident of
the village. “The roads flood with dirty water and sometimes
pests like snakes. How can we send our children out in such
conditions?”
In response, the American Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Red Cross
Society have begun revamping the shallow drainage ditches along
the roadsides by installing a proper and lasting concrete drainage
system. This system will extend between rows of homes to remove
the stagnant water and prevent further flooding. The houses
will receive larger septic tanks, each with a natural filter
system and five-year capacity, to clean the water before it
is drained. In addition, residents will be encouraged to plant
gardens over and around the underground tanks to soak up contaminants
already in the soil.
“We knew we had to act quickly in a situation like this
to help protect people from disease and illness,” said
Leigh Burgess, water and sanitation expert in Sri Lanka for
the American Red Cross. “At a community meeting, we asked
for a committee of residents that the Red Cross would train
in how to maintain the drainage and sanitation systems so these
problems wouldn’t happen again in the future.”
According to Burgess, the very next day, community leaders came
to the Red Cross office with a petition signed by all their
neighbors, asking the Red Cross to move ahead with the project.
“We broke ground on the project one week later,”
said Burgess.
The American and Sri Lankan Red Cross Societies have also signed
up a number of residents to assist with construction, supporting
local incomes and giving people a sense of ownership over the
work.
T. L. Wilson Shantha (known as “Raju”) is one such
resident. “I want a better life for my family,”
said Raju, pointing to the mark on his home, left over from
flooding following a recent downpour. The water had entered
the house, forcing his wife and toddler son to take refuge next
door at his sister’s house.
Soon, Raju and his neighbors will have new, long-lasting water
and sanitation systems to improve the conditions in this community.
The American Red Cross has water and sanitation programmes underway
in five districts in Sri Lanka that will assist more than 250,000
people. These programmes include restoring or building new wells
and tanks to provide clean water, connecting houses to the rural
water system and installing new toilets and septic systems.
Together, the American Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Red Cross
Society– and indeed the wider Red Cross Red Crescent –
are addressing the emerging needs of tsunami-affected people,
while working on long-term programs to restore their communities
and improve their lives.
|
 |
 |
|
|
American
Red Cross water and sanitation engineer Shiran Randeniya
removes a scrap of metal sheeting to reveal a sewage tank
in need of replacement in Walahanduwa in southern Sri
Lanka. (p15313)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
In
the village of Walahanduwa, the American Red Cross is
connecting drainage canals, like this one, so that rain
water will wash out of the village without flooding. (p15314)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
T.
L. Wilson Shantha, nicknamed 'Raju', shows American Red
Cross water and sanitation specialist Shiran Randeniya
how high the black water rose following recent monsoon
rains. (p15311)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Raju
smiles knowing he is helping improve the lives of his
family and neighbors in this newly-built community. "I
want a better life for my family,” he said. (p15312)
|
|
News
