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Disaster management
Tsunami operation photo essays
Faces of recovery in Sri Lanka: Nafeel's story
Abdul Cader Jamaldeen shows a photograph of the damage caused by the tsunami to his house and shop in Maruthamunai in Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Ampara. Jamaldeen ran a successful shop and was a respected trader in the area prior to the tsunami. He lives with his wife, twin sons Hafeel and Nafeel and youngest son Fazil in a temporary shelter made of brick and tin roofing sheets. The family does not want to rebuild on the site of their original home where they have bad memories. Instead they await the completion of a house being built for them by the French Red Cross which is further away from the sea. Jamaldeen lost 13 family members in the tsunami.

Abdul Cader Jamaldeen shows a photograph of the damage caused by the tsunami to his house and shop in Maruthamunai in Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Ampara. Jamaldeen ran a successful shop and was a respected trader in the area prior to the tsunami. He lives with his wife, twin sons Hafeel and Nafeel and youngest son Fazil in a temporary shelter made of brick and tin roofing sheets. The family does not want to rebuild on the site of their original home where they have bad memories. Instead they await the completion of a house being built for them by the French Red Cross which is further away from the sea. Jamaldeen lost 13 family members in the tsunami.

Photo: International Federation (p16811)
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Nineteen year old Jamaldeen Nafeel (fourth from left in red shirt) listens intently during a meeting of the Red Cross Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) in Maruthamunai, eastern Sri Lanka. When the tsunami struck, densely populated Maruthamunai was the worst affected division in Sri Lanka. Over 1,000 people were killed and thousands of homes, as well as infrastructure, were damaged or destroyed. Nafeel is part of the CDRT group that was set up with the support of the Sri Lanka and Danish Red Cross societies. The 19 community members that form the CDRT have been trained in disaster response, including helping with evacuation, setting up camps for displaced people, conducting needs assessments, and carrying out disaster risk reduction activities.
Nineteen year old Jamaldeen Nafeel (fourth from left in red shirt) listens intently during a meeting of the Red Cross Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) in Maruthamunai, eastern Sri Lanka. When the tsunami struck, densely populated Maruthamunai was the worst affected division in Sri Lanka. Over 1,000 people were killed and thousands of homes, as well as infrastructure, were damaged or destroyed. Nafeel is part of the CDRT group that was set up with the support of the Sri Lanka and Danish Red Cross societies. The 19 community members that form the CDRT have been trained in disaster response, including helping with evacuation, setting up camps for displaced people, conducting needs assessments, and carrying out disaster risk reduction activities.

Photo: International Federation (p16812)
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Jamaldeen Nafeel and other Red Cross Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) members inspect blocked drains in Maruthamunai, eastern Sri Lanka. The CDRT plans to involve local community members in removing rubbish from drains in the four administrative divisions of the area. Blocked drains are the main cause of flooding in Maruthamunai during the monsoon season. Hundreds of houses are affected by the flooding each year and with rains due in December, the drain clearing project will form part of the CDRT’s disaster risk reduction strategy.
Jamaldeen Nafeel and other Red Cross Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) members inspect blocked drains in Maruthamunai, eastern Sri Lanka. The CDRT plans to involve local community members in removing rubbish from drains in the four administrative divisions of the area. Blocked drains are the main cause of flooding in Maruthamunai during the monsoon season. Hundreds of houses are affected by the flooding each year and with rains due in December, the drain clearing project will form part of the CDRT’s disaster risk reduction strategy.

Photo: International Federation (p16813)
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In between working and volunteering for the Red Cross CDRT, Jamaldeen Nafeel helps his mother cook in a partitioned area of the temporary shelter his family calls home. Nafeel and his family have lived in the temporary shed made of brick and tin sheets since they lost their home to the tsunami in 2004. Tragically Nafeel lost his sister in the tsunami, a few months before she was due to get married.
In between working and volunteering for the Red Cross CDRT, Jamaldeen Nafeel helps his mother cook in a partitioned area of the temporary shelter his family calls home. Nafeel and his family have lived in the temporary shed made of brick and tin sheets since they lost their home to the tsunami in 2004. Tragically Nafeel lost his sister in the tsunami, a few months before she was due to get married.

Photo: International Federation (p16814)
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Nafeel walks on the beach with his twin brother Hafeel. Both are members of the Red Cross CDRT in Maruthamunai. The twin brothers earn money and support the family by working as wood sculptors at an uncle’s construction business. After the tsunami, their father Abdul Cader Jamaldeen encouraged them to join the Red Cross as volunteers and get involved in community development work. Abdul Cader Jamaldeen has given up running his shop and is now involved in full time social work on behalf of the local community. “I realised with the loss of my daughter that nothing is permanent and that we need to help others in need,” he explains.
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More information
14 December 2007
International Federation-wide tsunami semi-annual report: Indonesia | Sri Lanka | Maldives | India | Thailand | Myanmar | Bangladesh | Eastern Africa
Revised tsunami plan of action 2005-2010 (PDF document, 2.4 Mb, 97 pages)
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