A
serious looking bearded young man glances up from his work and
rises to greet us as we enter the Red Cross Red Crescent office
in Pottovil, a coastal town in eastern Sri Lanka. Dilshard Ahamed,
22 is the emergency unit coordinator for the Sri Lanka Red Cross
Society (SLRCS) Ampara branch.
Until six months ago, he worked in his family-owned guesthouse.
In his quiet manner he explains that while he only recently
joined the Red Cross as a staff member, he has been involved
with the Red Cross for eight years, the last two as an active
volunteer.
“I enjoy helping people and I thought the Red Cross in
Sri Lanka was doing a great job, so I decided to become a volunteer,”
Dilshard says.
Dilshard and his family moved east from the capital Colombo
only a few years ago to run the family business his grandfather
began 27 years ago. His mother and uncles took over the business
and, until the disaster of 26 December, it was run by Dilshard
and his cousins.
In an area well-known as a magnet for travelers and tourists,
The Mermaid’s Rest Beach Resort enjoyed a prime location
on a picturesque beach in the small village of Ulla, known throughout
the surfing world as Arugam Bay.
When the tsunami struck, the resort was filled with guests,
so many of Dilshard’s family members were on hand to assist
with the workload. Happily, the entire family and all the guests
survived even though the resort itself was destroyed. The only
reminders that a hotel once stood on the devastated site are
the foundations and a signboard bearing the name of the hotel.
Dilshard’s home, a few hundred metres from the beach,
was spared the wrath of the crashing waves that devastated almost
two-thirds of Sri Lanka’s coastline.
Drawing on his Red Cross training in first aid, rescue and,
later on, relief distribution, Dilshard was keen to help. “After
I made sure that everyone at the hotel was alright, I began
to help the rescue effort. Together with other volunteers we
provided a lot of first aid,” he recalls.
As the impact and extent of the devastation became known it
also became clear to Ampara branch executive officer Sunil Dissanayake
there would be a great demand for skilled volunteers, explains
Dilshard. He helped set up an emergency unit and trained volunteers
in First Aid. With assistance from American Red Cross, the extra
SLRCS volunteers also underwent training in relief distribution.
It was fortunate, says Dilshard, that earlier in the year selected
volunteers had also attended the psychosocial training college
in Jaffna in the north of the country.
“I saw the destruction the tsunami caused in that short
space of time and I wanted to help all those people who were
affected. All of the volunteers who are involved with Red Cross
feel the same way”, he explains.
Today Dilshard works closely with delegates from Red Cross and
Red Crescent National Societies from around the world who have
come to Sri Lanka to help with relief and recovery programs.
Together with his team of dedicated young volunteers, Dilshard
is often seen on the road traveling between camps of internally
displaced people, supervising a relief distribution, or assisting
his Red Cross Red Crescent colleagues.
What are Dilshard’s plans for the future? “I am
happy that the work I do has such a positive impact on the lives
of the people of this district. There are tangible results of
our work. I am happy too that I am contributing towards the
development of my country and the Red Cross Society”,
he says. “I plan to stay involved with the Red Cross Red
Crescent Movement for as long as possible and hopefully realise
my dream of becoming a water and sanitation specialist.”
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Hotelier
turned relief worker Dilshard Ahamed (left), speaks about
life after the tsunami with the International Federation’s
Lena Eskeland in Pottuvil, Ampara district. Photo: International
Federation (p12952)
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Volunteers:
the heart and soul of the International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement. These water and sanitation volunteers
have been trained by German Red Cross to provide relief
in Pottuvil, Ampara district. Photo: International Federation
(p12953)
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