Twenty-nine year old Lalith Abeysinghe carries a constant reminder of the date that changed his life. Etched on his right arm are the numerals 26/12/2007, the day when the Asian tsunami destroyed his home and claimed the life of his eight month old son.
Sitting on the porch of his new home near Dickwella in south eastern Sri Lanka, Lalith has now begun to turn his life around. For over two years he lived with his wife and three surviving children squeezed into one room above Dikwella’s market. Now the family is back amongst friends and former neighbours on an estate of 56 new homes built by the Red Cross Red Crescent.
“Now we have a permanent home we can finally put the past behind us;” he says.
With an estimated 117,000 homes damaged or destroyed in the tsunami, providing permanent shelter to affected families has been an immense challenge. By the end of 2007 almost 100,000 houses had been re-built with donor support. The Red Cross Red Crescent has played a lead role in the re-building effort, supporting the construction of close to 17,000 homes. The goal is to fully-fund the construction of 6,200 houses and co-finance more than 23,400 homes. While work has now been completed on most sites in the south of the country, many projects in the north and east have faced delays.
“Given the challenges that we have faced, a huge amount has been achieved over the past three years,” explains Tissa Abeywickrama, chairman of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement Task Force. “Across our tsunami recovery operation we have managed to complete almost one hundred and fifty recovery projects in different programme sectors but factors such as the changes to the housing policy and the conflict situation in the north and east have slowed us down.”
Placing communities at the heart of reconstruction efforts has proved to be the quickest and most cost effective way to construct new homes by giving ownership of the building process to affected families. Under the Community Recovery and Reconstruction Partnership (CRRP) a unique partnership between the Red Cross Red Crescent, UN Habitat and the World Bank - cash grants are given to families together with livelihoods support and funding for community development projects. The CRRP is now close to its target of supporting construction of 6,000 houses.
Another priority for the Red Cross Red Crescent is the rehabilitation of health infrastructure, including hospitals, health centres and teaching facilities. So far 25 projects have been completed out of a portfolio of 76 projects spread across 16 districts of the country.
“Rebuilding hospitals is a complex process,” explains John Wain, the International Federation’s senior manager for construction. “Most of our projects are focused on rehabilitating functioning hospitals, which means that the planning and construction have to be implemented in stages over a longer timeframe.” The Red Cross Red Crescent has also procured medical equipment, valued at over 1.5 million Swiss francs (USD 1.4 million) for 19 different health facilities.
Long-lasting recovery means making a difference to the health and welfare of coastal communities. The Red Cross Red Crescent is one of the biggest donors and implementers of post-tsunami water and sanitation projects in Sri Lanka with over 50 major projects either underway or completed. Some of these projects aim to improve or develop major water supply infrastructure that brings safe water into new resettlement areas and neighbouring communities that have never benefited from piped water.
New water treatment and supply projects are being constructed in Ampara district while 50,000 people will soon receive water directly into their homes for the first time thanks to new pipelines being laid in the districts of Galle and Matara. The Red Cross Red Crescent has also developed a range of rural water supply and sanitation projects which include the construction and cleaning of community wells and the upgrading of sanitation facilities in schools.
“We set ourselves a five year time-frame for completing tsunami recovery projects and we are on track to achieve this,” explains Paul Emes, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Sri Lanka. “In 2008 we should see our housing programme reach completion but some of the large-scale infrastructure projects to rebuild hospitals and construct water treatment facilities will take longer.”
The tsunami not only destroyed homes, it had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of 150,000 people. A priority for the Red Cross Red Crescent has been to help individuals and families to re-establish their livelihoods and achieve a level of economic security for the future. Almost 50 livelihoods recovery projects have been implemented in nine coastal districts which have benefited over 15,000 households to date.
In most cases, support has been focused on rebuilding former livelihoods through the replacement of lost assets such as fishing boats, sewing machines and handlooms. Help has also been given to start up new enterprises and over 2,000 people have benefited from vocational training in construction related skills. Women have been a primary target group for livelihoods support and cash grants provided by the Red Cross Red Crescent have supported a wide range of income generation projects that supplement household incomes. These include home gardens, mushroom cultivation and poultry rearing.
The impact of the tsunami highlighted the importance of being well prepared. The Sri Lanka Red Cross is carrying out a community-based disaster management (CBDM) programme in eleven districts which is focused on saving lives and reducing the vulnerability of 150 high-risk communities by improving preparedness measures at both household and community level. The Red Cross is also building its internal capacity to manage disasters. By the end of the year 16 branch disaster response teams will have been trained to lead initial Red Cross relief efforts during emergencies. In addition a purpose built disaster management centre with training facilities and warehousing is under construction close to Katunayake airport.
Along side disaster management health and care is another core programme area for the Sri Lanka Red Cross. Currently there are 14 community based health programmes being implemented in 13 districts. These programmes are largely concentrated on preventative health care covering community based First Aid, child, maternal and adolescent health, awareness around preventable diseases such as HIVAIDS and personal, domestic and environmental hygiene. Since 2005, over 300,000 beneficiaries across the country have been reached through health and care programmes implemented by Red Cross Red Crescent partners. |
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Sitting on the porch of his new home near Dickwella in south eastern Sri Lanka, Lalith has now begun to turn his life around. Photo: International Federation (p17339)
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Japanese Red Cross houses on 5th Mile Post construction site in Trincomalee. By the end of 2007 almost 100,000 houses had been re-built with donor support. The Red Cross Red Crescent has played a lead role in the re-building effort, supporting the construction of close to 17,000 homes. Photo: Japanese Red Cross (p17327)
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| The Red Cross Red Crescent has also procured medical equipment, valued at over 1.5 million Swiss francs (USD 1.4 million) for 19 different health facilities. Photo: International Federation (p17325) |
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| French Red Cross water assessment in Ampara. The Red Cross Red Crescent has also developed a range of rural water supply and sanitation projects which include the construction and cleaning of community wells and the upgrading of sanitation facilities in schools. Photo: German Red Cross (p17334) |
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Women in a store created by the livelihoods and Psychosocial Support Programme run by the Danish Red Cross. A priority for the Red Cross Red Crescent has been to help individuals and families to re-establish their livelihoods and achieve a level of economic security for the future.
Photo: Rukshan Ratnam/International Federation (p17335))
A Community Based Disaster Management Team in a training in Moneragala, Ampara district. The Sri Lanka Red Cross is carrying out a community-based disaster management (CBDM) programme in eleven districts which is focused on saving lives and reducing the vulnerability of 150 high-risk communities by improving preparedness measures at both household and community level. Photo: Sri Lanka Red Corss Society (p17330)
Two volunteers working in a Community Based Health (CBH) project in Puttalam. Currently there are 14 community based health programmes being implemented in 13 districts. These programmes are largely concentrated on preventative health care covering community based First Aid, child, maternal and adolescent health, awareness around preventable diseases such as HIVAIDS and personal, domestic and environmental hygiene. Photo: Japanese Red Cross (p17332)
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