Over
the past five years, Samaratunge, a widow, depended on the money
she earned from her poultry farm to buy food for her family
and put her two daughters through school. She has invested more
than Rs.180,000 (US$1,800) in the farm but the time and effort
she has put in cannot be quantified in monetary terms. “It
has been a labour of love, but I was determined to make enough
money to give my daughters a comfortable life,” she says.
It took seconds for the tsunami of December 2004 to destroy
everything she had built. The surge of water sweeping through
her home killed all the chickens and swept away almost all of
her household items. Luckily, she and her daughters survived
but they were left with no means of making a living.
About 150,000 people lost their main source of income as a result
of the tsunami. It is estimated that 40,000 widows, orphans,
elderly and disabled people are in need of long-term or permanent
income support. The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement recognised
that restoring livelihoods was a vital step in the overall recovery
process and now thousands like Samaratunge are receiving support.
A joint project by the Spanish Red Cross and Sri Lanka Red Cross
is now providing Samaratunge with training and material to cultivate
ornamental plants; assistance that will help her regain a degree
of self sufficiency. She is one of 200 beneficiaries who are
receiving Red Cross support under a rapid income generation
project in the district that helps them cultivate a variety
of produce including mushrooms and ornamental plants and teaches
them new methods to produce processed foods such as jams and
chutneys.
“I will use part of my sister-in-law’s garden to
grow ornamental plants like palms, geraniums and orchids,”
says Samaratunge. “I hope to earn enough money from selling
these plants to be able to set up a new poultry farm on my own
land.”
“We worked closely with the Government’s Department
of Agriculture (DEA) office and the Sri Lanka Red Cross to research
and identify the most suitable crops and the potential markets
where the produce can be sold,” explains Spanish Red Cross
Livelihoods Delegate Marta Alejano Monge.
Another longer term project implemented by the Spanish Red Cross
aims to regenerate the local cinnamon industry in Galle district
in southern Sri Lanka. Cinnamon was a popular cash crop and
the livelihoods of hundreds of people were affected when the
tsunami destroyed or damaged over 100 acres of cinnamon plantations.
The DEA agreed to provide technical input to the project where
they will train farmers in cultivating quality cinnamon as well
as train cinnamon peelers in the use of modern techniques which
are environment friendly and safe.
Red Cross Red Crescent is supporting a range of micro-businesses
that involve home-based income-generating activities, in particular
those of women. These projects include training and assistance
in rapid income generation projects in various sectors, including
agriculture and livestock (poultry farming, pig rearing and
bee keeping), weaving of handloom material, lace making and
home gardening (plant nurseries, compost making and vegetable
cultivation). Where possible, a holistic approach is being adopted
to integrate livelihoods projects with the wider Red Cross Red
Crescent recovery effort.
In the Tangalle district of southern Sri Lanka, 64 houses have
been built on a new resettlement site where the Netherlands
Red Cross Society are now supporting a coir making project that
boosts the incomes of local women, many of whom were unable
to continue their previous income-generating activities in the
new location.
Sixty women were provided with coir weaving machines which produce
rope from the fibres of coconut husk. One of the beneficiaries
of the project, Siriwathee, is now producing 40 lengths of rope
every day which she sells to local farmers, making an extra
$US50 on average each month. “My husband was a fisherman
before the tsunami but now there is little work for him and
the money I make means that we have something extra to spend
on the home and the children.”
Despite the widespread support to regenerate the fisheries sector,
in some areas distributions of boats and fishing equipment has
not always been equitable and some communities have been neglected.
The British Red Cross has just completed distributions of 39
Beach Seine boats to a small fishing community in Batticaloa
in Sri Lanka’s east. These vessels are designed for net
fishing in shallow waters close to the beach. While this system
is labour intensive, each boat supports the livelihoods of 30
fishermen. An agreement with the Federation of Boat Owners will
see the piloting of an innovative pro-poor profit share system
designed to benefit fishing labourers who often earn very little
under traditional systems.
The Federation is also running multilateral projects that focus
on skills development and vocational training, with a special
emphasis on Red Cross Red Crescent Movement housing beneficiaries
and other internally displaced persons living in transitional
shelters. In December, a programme began in collaboration with
the government’s Vocational Training Authority to train
over 1000 tsunami affected people across three districts in
construction related skills. Some 53 different courses will
run over the next six months, each lasting one week. On completion,
each participant receives a toolkit that will help improve their
chances of finding work.
“Getting people back to work may mean giving them new
skills or upgrading their existing skills. Applications for
these courses have been high which is very positive sign,”
explains Marjukka Antila, the Federation’s Livelihoods
Programme Coordinator.
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Siriwathee
(on the left) looks on as she puts the finishing touches
to a coil of rope she produced. The Netherlands Red Cross
Society is supporting a coir making project that boosts
the incomes of local women at a new settlement built by
the Movement in the southern Sri Lankan district of Hambantota.
(p13670)
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Mrs
Samaratunga (left) looks on as, the Spanish Red Cross
Livelihoods delegate, Marta Alejano Monge, demonstrates
the effective use of the tower cultivation method. A joint
project by the Spanish Red Cross and Sri Lanka Red Cross
is now providing Samaratunge with training and material
to cultivate ornamental plants; assistance that will help
her regain a degree of self sufficiency. (p13669)
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The
British Red Cross has just completed distributions of
39 Beach Seine boats to a small fishing community in Batticaloa
in Sri Lanka’s east. These vessels are designed
for net fishing in shallow waters close to the beach.
(p13688)
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