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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE January 18, 2007
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| April 21, 2006 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka – Post Tsunami Reconstruction |
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| A participant hands over relief goods to a local villager. |
A petite Sri Lankan woman stands in front of a large crowd of local villagers and Peace Boat participants, sharing how she lost her daughter during the Tsunami of 2004. Rami Felandu, a Sinhalese in her 50s, now lives alone in permanent housing constructed by the collaborative efforts of local and international NGOs. Though Peace Boat participants couldn’t understand the details of her story due to language barriers, they felt the pain of her loss.
Rami is one of thirty-six families living in the temporary and permanent housing area of Bandaragarma in the Kalutara district of Sri Lanka. Twenty Peace Boat participants traveled forty minutes south of Colombo to understand the challenges that Sri Lanka has faced in post-Tsunami reconstruction. Junko Chiaki, a Peace Boat participant, said, “I had seen so many horrible images of the Tsunami on the news. I wanted to come here to understand their pain.” |
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| Sundown at the Bandaragama permanent housing site. |
Participants spent the afternoon in Bandaragama, enjoying traditional song and dance performed by the local children. In return, Peace Boat participants taught the children origami and played jump rope and tug-o-war with them. Later in the evening, participants prepared Japanese curry to share with the displaced families. Though they were unable to communicate directly, the locals and participants bonded over chopping vegetables and exchanging smiles. |
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| Dancing with the locals. |
In the immediate aftermath of the Tsunami, the families of Bandaragama managed to flee and find shelter at local Buddhist temples. For four months they lived in tents before moving into temporary shelters erected by NGOs. The temporary shelters, constructed out of wood and corrugated tin roofing, housed the families for the next eight months. They are now making a slow transition to adjacent permanent housing units. With limited electricity and running water, the 2-3 bedroom concrete houses are a huge improvement over the temporary units. |
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| The computer center that Peace Boat and Sewelanka partnered up to build. |
The Sewalanka Foundation constructed Bandaragama’s and many other temporary housing shelters throughout Tsunami-affected areas. The Sewalanka Foundation began in 1993 by providing housing for people displaced by the civil conflict in Sri Lanka. After the tsunami, their efforts were diverted towards disaster relief. Along with building the temporary shelters and providing survivors with daily necessities, the Sewalanka Foundation continues to provide them with psychological care and vocational training.
Peace Boat has partnered with Sewalanka to build four computer centers at various temporary housing sites. On their second day in Sri Lanka, participants were able to visit a computer center that is currently being constructed in the Sunanda Pananda temporary housing site. The computer centers would teach tsunami-affected children basic computer skills such as Microsoft Office and Windows Operating System. Three classes would be offered, a class for young children (ages 6-12), the second for youth (ages 12-20), and the third would be for those wanting to advance their skills beyond the basics. Tharanga Ranasinghe, Sewalanka’s Deputy Project Manager, said, “The children dream that one day they will be able to get jobs that utilize these computer skills.” Interests in these classes are high among the residents of Sunanda Pananda, and many are anticipating the opening of the center in May. |
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Ranasinghe says that the goal of Sewalanka is “to slowly hand over responsibility to the survivors so they may gain independence and self-sufficiency.” Over the two-day trip, participants saw how much progress has been made towards that goal.
Resources:
www.sewalanka.org |
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