The
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is helping people’s
plans and dreams take shape in the tsunami affected districts
of Sri Lanka. In the southern coastal town of Rekawa, these
plans and dreams take on the shape of houses; homes for those
who lost theirs to the devastating tsunami on 26 December 2004.
‘Little Malta Village’, a reconstruction project
led by the Malta Red Cross Society comprises 63 houses perched
on a hill with shady trees, 350 metres from the original settlement
on the beach.
The houses were handed over to the community on 10 July 2005
at a ceremony attended by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda
Rajapakse and Maltese Red Cross Society President Prof L Cutajar.
Lansinona Wijesuriya is almost bursting with joy as she waits
to receive the key to her new home. “I am very happy.
I feel safe here,” she says.
Ms. Wijesuriya’s son works in the capital Colombo and
she lived alone. “My house was completely destroyed. I
would have died too if I hadn’t been at the temple that
morning,” she says.
Everyone, including the country’s Prime Minister, the
new house owners and members of the Sri Lanka Red Cross and
Malta Red Cross Societies have reason to rejoice: it’s
the first completed permanent housing project to which a community
made homeless by the tsunami has moved in.
“It is an honour that it’s the Red Cross which completed
the first housing project,” said Prime Minister Rajapakse
as he addressed the throngs of people who attended the ceremony.
The family of Jaliya Ediriweera and his wife E.P. Esilin Nona,
both 77 years old, has prepared traditional Sri Lankan sweetmeats
to mark the day. They invite members of the Red Cross to come
share their joy, and their first meal in the new house.
“We are very grateful to the Red Cross, they gave us food,
water and now a house,” says Ediriweera. “We would
have had to live on the road if we didn’t get a house,”
he adds. His home and coconut grove were destroyed in the tsunami.
“We are grateful to the people of Malta, who provided
the money to complete this project,” adds his neighbour,
Jagath Ratnawira.
The President of the Maltese Red Cross, Professor Cutajar, says
the Government and public in Malta gave generously when the
Red Cross launched an appeal following the tsunami, some giving
their entire month’s pension.
It is the first international operation for the Malta Red Cross
Society, a relatively new National Society now celebrating its
fourteenth year since inception.
“All in all, it’s been a very satisfactory outcome,”
says Professor Cutajar with a smile.
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Ms
Lansinona Wijesuriya is all smiles as she waits for the
key to her new house. Photo: international Federation
(p13028)
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The
people of Rekawa attend the ceremony unveiling their new
homes. Photo: international Federation (p13029)
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