Helping families to return home

The 1.5 million Sri Lankans who have recently been displaced are now in refugee camps spread across the country. After the terrifying effects of the tsunami itself, these human beings are now forced to live on the floors of temples, churches and schools at the mercy of any aid that might get through.

On an emergency aid trip down to the south coast Amenti Relief located one of these refugee camps deep in the south part of the island near a small town called Weligama.

When we reached the camp we found about 2000 people including over 600 children. Each family has staked out a few square metres where they have piled the few possessions they were able to salvage from the wreckage of their homes. They are receiving some food but by no means enough. They do not currently have a water shortage. There are some latrines but they are by no means sufficient to handle the numbers of people they serve. The threat of disease and its spread with so many people living in such close proximity looms large.

Emotionally, everyone remains in shock. Many are still terrified by the effects of their ordeal. People wander around the small complex of school classrooms in a state of complete disbelief. Many of the people in this camp are fishermen and their families. They are the ones that lived in the coastal areas and as a result have lost their homes, boats and livelihoods. Many are also mourning loved ones; a wife pulled into the sea by the force of the receding wave or a child that they were unable to hold onto in the frightening gush of water. For many of the fishermen, the thought of returning to their jobs on the ocean is unbearable. They have been betrayed by their mother (the sea). They have no where else to go.

We visited a small village compound in Pelena where some of these refugees used to live. There we found complete and utter destruction. Some of the men and women from three separate families were picking through the rubble. Several houses were standing however the insides are completely destroyed. One women told me she had lost all the family money, which she had kept inside. They were grateful for basics we provided like soap, toothpaste and sanitary napkins. With no stores open for miles, even these simple aspects of life are luxuries.

It is clear that restoring these villages is key to beginning any recovery. To escape from the threat of disease, starvation and death in the refugee camps the best solution is to rebuild one's home because it is only when these people return home that they will be able to begin processing what has happened to them, recover their confidence, their dignity and their lives.

Amenti Relief has begun compiling a list of the needs of the families in the Pelena compound and the refugee camp where they sleep. We have also begun setting up the appropriate infrastructure in Sri Lanka to begin providing these families with what they need. The objective of our initial project is to rebuild this compound and enable the families that once made up this vibrant fishing village to return home.