Tsunami relief Programme

On the morning of December 27th 2004, CHA and its staff had already contributed an initial commitment of Rs 1.3 million to be used for immediate relief were quick to action, worked tirelessly around the clock collating the energies and goodwill of relatives, friends and well wishers, all of one mind to help those affected.   Lorries of provisions were packed until the wee hours of the morning and dispatched to camps, schools and homes identified by our network of district officers. Funds were also transferred to the District Officers to enable purchase of required items within the district. We acknowledge grants from NOVIB, SIDA, Danida and all other private donation for all program conducted in 2005 and enabled the following :

69,368 families were provided food and non-food assistance
9746 families were able to get back on their feet again;
18,251 children were assisted to resume school;
And
79 families have a home.

Our assistance efforts were categorized under three phases:
Phase I – Immediate relief, assistance to children, medical assistance;
Phase II – Livelihood assistance, assistance to children
Phase  III - Permanent housing.

The CHA relief team continued to assist tsunami affected families in 2006 with funds received from Diakonia and Americare, Mercy Corps focusing on restoration of livelihoods and medical/nutritional supplements.

Phase I

Immediate Relief Assistance

Targets were set on assumptions derived from estimates of the impact enabling the assistance imparted by us to be well above expectations and the documented requests made of our donors at the initial stages.  From the beginning, our assistance had the unique aspect of being a personalized one as we feel humanitarian assistance also encompasses the facet of being responsive and caring to each person affected.  We met all recipients personally, were aware of their problems and discussed the assistance we would be providing while also closely monitoring the assistance provided.

 Prior to processing, all relief requests were verified by the District Officers and staff at the Head Office with procurement implemented in line with requirements, to ensure good quality and best prices.   Distribution and packing was done by in–house staff, volunteers and district staff. The vehicles were always accompanied by Head Office staff with distribution monitored closely. In the case of collaborating with other organizations, these too had our personal interventions and monitoring, in order to keep the total process transparent and accountable.

Phase II

Assistance to Children

In any disaster, it is children who suffer most.  They are traumatized not only physically but also psychologically.  Having seen the devastation that was wreaked across the country’s coastline and the pictures of children who were left lost and bereft indelible in our minds, assisting children to pick up the pieces of their tattered social fabric became a crucial imperative for us.  We collated them synergies of many organizations who wished to collaborate in this effort, providing school uniforms, school bags, stationery, shoes and other educational necessities to enable the affected children to get back to school so they would experience a sense of normalcy once more. We also provided bicycles for A/Level students who had been forced to re–locate to schools not within walking distance. Our District Officers identified students who needed tuition fees as well as. 

textbooks destroyed by the waves. We assisted schools in rebuilding libraries and replacing furniture and equipment.  To those children who were suddenly orphaned and were left bewildered and lost, we funded their education for the year. As we saw little eyes light up and a smile shine across those faces, our efforts at making a lamp burn within their darkened hearts was indeed rewarding.

 Livelihood Assistance

 While the families tried to pick up the pieces, their biggest challenge was to gain back their livelihoods which would not only bring in economic stability but also a degree of self worth and dignity.  Our priorities were to assist a single family or groups of families with special focus on women headed households, using a benchmark assistance range from Rs 10,000- to Rs 350,000. We collaborated with Shell Live Wire in doing sixty workshops catering to forty families per workshop. The training focused on assistance in developing small business plans, introduction to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry and assistance to obtain loans from banks.

 Where machinery or equipment had been destroyed, field visits were conducted for verification of operations prior to the disaster and the extent after, before assistance was granted to ensure accuracy and authenticity.  Payment was made direct to the supplier after a request was made by the District Officer.  The funds are debited to the district accounts with the DO being responsible for disbursement, implementation/monitoring and providing all supporting documents.

Livelihood assistance included bicycles, sewing machines, fishing nets, boats, three wheelers, monetary assistance, computers, tables, training programmes for business development, poultry farming assistance, carpentry tools, wood working machines and lathe machines.

Phase III

Permanent Housing

 Having a ground feel of temporary shelters and the mounting problems that surrounded the situations including coordination, database information, the situation of host families, de–commissioning of transitional shelter sites and disaster risk, the CHA relief team with the approval of the management made a conscious decision not be involved in temporary shelters. This decision was also influenced by the fact that thousands of families remained in similar temporary conditions after being displaced due to the North and East conflict.

 Our efforts therefore turned towards permanent housing with the primary aim being to build better than what the victims lost.  All 79 houses backed by CHA were designed or purchased by the beneficiary.  We did not influence them in their decision but imparted every support required to build or buy the house.  The Divisional Secretaries and GAs were continuously kept abreast of these efforts.  A buying option was given to those within the “buffer zone” or to those who were not entitled to a house due to living in rented premises or with relatives.

Our efforts covered the districts of Colombo, Galle, Kalutara, Matara, Hambantota, Kilinochchi, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Ampara, Mannar and Trincomalee. A final evaluation will take into account the coordination effort with other national and international agencies, which are scaling up their emergency response effort.

Total Number Assisted

Few Successes stories  Micro Garment industry U.P.C.C. Kumari was a small entrepreneur engaged in producing garments. Her garment with all the machine, materials was washed away to the Tsunami. This not only affected Kumari, it affected ten other employees who worked under her. Devastated with the lost of her main source of income reached CHA for possible assistance to restart her livelihood. As part of CHA’s relief activities she was funded to purchase the necessary equipments. The timely assistance helped her to restart her business and provide employment. Kumari is currently doing well and sends us updates on her progress. Recently she started to export her products to other countries and her staff has grown from ten to thirty five. Beauty Salon  Tharaka Sunjeeva was earning his livelihood through the beauty salon that he conducted at Matara. When the news of Tsunami struck him his first reaction was to see what had happened to his salon. Immediately he went to the location where the salon was. Other than the foundation of the building that he conducted the salon on, he couldn’t even find a trace of the equipments that he had. Tharaka was directed by another beneficiary who had received assistance from us and was assisted by purchasing the necessary equipments. With the savings that he had and our assistance he started his salon better than what he had. Now providing employment to two others he  is doing well in his business. Housing Assistance Nandani Rabel was a house wife who helped her husband to run the small shop in front of her house. Mother of 3 children lost every thing they had worked for through out the years due to the Tsunami. On the news that housing assistance is being provided by CHA Nandani came to CHA head office requesting for possible assistance. With the trauma of almost loosing her children’s life back in her head she was not comfortable in rebuilding her house in the location that she originally had it. At the same time the government implied the buffer zone which made her land worth less. So the only suggestion we had was to buy her a house for the amount that we grant to rebuild houses. With this suggestion she was returned to find a house for maximum of Rs. 600,000/-. After few weeks she got back to us with a deed of a house at Panadura. After doing the necessary verifications she was provided with the cash to buy the new house. As she is unable to do the same livelihood with the location change she has started to sell Rolls to shops around the area.  To develop the scope of her sale trough our Diakonia Livelihood grant she was assisted with a used three wheeler.    Kathirgamathamby Komathy - Batticaloa Kathirgamathamby Komathy’s family consists of three, Komathy and her two children aged nineteen and twenty one. The family lost their primary breadwinner, Kathirgamathamby, Komathy’s husband along with their house and all other belongings. Looking for a way to survive she started to work at a food center as kitchen help to ensure that her children are fed and that their basic support for studying is provided. Life at the camp was getting difficult with the raining season; she approached CHA district office in Batticaloa for possible assistance.   After doing the necessary verifications she was provided with Rs. 500,000/- to rebuild her house.