ASIA/SRI LANKA - Rebuilding normality a year after the tsunami: results of efforts by Catholic communities and international bodies in affected areas

Wednesday, 23 November 2005

Colombo (Fides Service) - “We have rebuilt homes and villages, given the people new fishing boats and nets so they can resume normal life and our main concern now is to guarantee education for children who lost their parents in the tragedy and this will be a long term commitment, ten or twelve years” said Fr. Francis Alancherry, Salesian Missions General advisor with regard to the work of rebuilding after the December 2004 tsunami which in Sri Lanka alone killed 30,000 and left 800,000 homeless. “This commitment involves all the Salesians in the area because tsunami orphans were taken in by all our centres and we have had to enlarge our structures”.
In Sri Lanka Volontarito Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (Vis) and Don Bosco Network Salesians run 70 programmes for rebuilding and resettling. At Negombo Technical School women affected by the tsunami learn to sew which will means they can work.
Salesians run Montesorri kindergartens for tsunami victim toddlers and after-school activities for older children. About 80 partly damaged fishing boats and 100 engines are being repaired at a workshop at Dulgalpitya Don Bosco Centre a few km from Negombo. Before the end of the year 82 new homes will be ready in Kallampathai in the north of Sri Lanka 40 km from Trincomalee.
In the meantime the UN High Commission for Refugees UNHCR has completed a home building programme in Sri Lanka. In the last 11 months over a hundred NGOs have built 58,000 new homes. On 15 November UNHCR formally effected the passage of handing over to the government of Sri Lanka with regard to this programme to allow people in emergency shelters used immediately after the disaster (tents and public buildings) to move to temporary but more solid buildings.
The housing programme realised instead directly by UNHCR to build 4,500 semi-permanent lodgings in the northern district of Jaffna and the eastern district of Ampara (in Tamil majority areas) has almost been completed. About 20,000 people have benefited from these lodgings and most are satisfied with the new homes.
At the end of October about 6 million dollars had already been spent for homes, activities of protection, logistic activities and aid supplies, mostly tents. Ulterior funds will be used in 2006 to continue assistance to people displaced by the tsunami.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 23/11/2005 Righe: 22 Parole: 234)


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