Faces of recovery in Sri Lanka: Health and care's story
Nurse Lucia Kirubaharan measures out medicine for one and a half year old Kugarajah Dinushan at the Manjanthoduvai camp for displaced people in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka. Dinushan’s mother Kugarajah Gowriswari has brought him to the mobile medical clinic, supported by the Italian Red Cross, seeking treatment for fever. The family lost seven boats and a number of nets in the tsunami. Although they received a new boat through an NGO, they had to leave all their possessions behind when they fled their home in 2006 after the conflict escalated in their home town of Vakarai.
Photo: International Federation (p16929)
Doctor Anthony Matthews of the Sri Lanka Red Cross examines a child while other patients line up at Manjanthoduvai camp. The mobile team is comprised of a doctor, nurse, dispenser and a couple of volunteers. They visit at least two camps each day and treat an average of 50 people per visit. Initially, they used to visit 20 camps per week but many of the displaced have now been able to return home.
Photo: International Federation (p16836)
Nurse Lucia Kirubaharan dispenses medicine at the Manjanthoduvai camp for displaced people. Kirubakaran has been a health worker for over 18 years, learning the basics of nursing from nuns and then at the Batticaloa hospital. She has been working with the Red Cross for over two years and says the most painful experience for her was when she responded to an incident where a tractor full of people was caught in an explosion caused by a land mine. She managed to save a few lives but cannot forget the death of an injured woman who she cradled in her arms for most of the way to the hospital.
Photo: International Federation (p16933)
Kugarajah Gowriswari cooks the family meal outside her temporary shelter she now calls home at Manjanthoduvai camp. Her family has been at the camp for the past eight months and she is reluctant to go back to her village due to the security situation. Gowriswari’s husband works as a crew member on a boat and is paid a commission or daily wage.
Disaster management
