Ampara District in the Eastern Province was severely affected; over 8,000 people were killed, more than 120,000 were displaced and more than 30,000 houses were destroyed by the tsunami.

Transitional shelter at Kali Kovil site, Kalmanai Ampara.

Sewalanka Foundation Ampara immediately began working in several areas along the coast of Ampara from the very highly populated Kalmunai in the north of the district to Arugam Bay and Panama in the south. After the first few days, we had established a relief distribution system based around six focal points in Kalmunai, Nintavur, Thirukovil, Komari, Ullai and Panama.

During the first month, Sewalanka’s first priority was to provide dry rations and emergency non-food items to over 5000 families across the district - those who had lost their homes and belongings. New partners like DanChurchAid and existing partners such as Swiss Contact and Oxfam GB, provided support for this immediate relief action.

To coordinate relief distribution and organize other programs like activities for children, our volunteers and coordinators lived and worked in the Temporary Accommodation Centres (TACs). The nature of TACs varied from schools and other public buildings to open air camps some, accommodating up to 7,000 people.

At the same time Sewalanka Foundation Ampara began to shift its focus and plan for short-term solutions to the problems facing displaced people. The number of people living in TAC’s began to decline as people moved to relatives’ houses, but a large number of between 20,000 and 40,000 families still required transitional shelter.

Transitional toilets in Kalmunai, Ampara.

Sewalanka Foundation began the construction of transitional shelters in January with the support of funds from DanChurchAid. From the start, our program worked very closely with government agencies involved in the reconstruction effort; transitional shelter designs were based on the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) guidelines. These housing designs varied depending on the different requirements of people and land availability in different parts of the district. Overall Sewalanka Foundation has built or started 613 shelters by the end of June and plans to complete a further 322 by August 2005.

Families moving into these shelters were relieved to be getting away from the difficult conditions they faced living in overcrowded TACs. One woman from Nintavur living in a TAC in a local primary school said.”

DCA representative talks with Nintavur community living in a school

“We are tired of living here. We have been here for three months now and there is not enough space for the 65 families living here. There is no place to wash or to cook and we are not getting enough relief items any more. Security is a big problem too – we do not feel safe buying any new items with the money provided by government because we have nowhere safe to store things.”

Transitional Shelters have given people the opportunity to start focusing on rebuilding their lives after the uncertainty and insecurity of camps. A common opinion after families had relocated to the shelters is that people now felt confident in starting to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Previously, while living in the TACs, many men in particular were anxious when leaving their families alone as they went out during the day to find work. Now they feel more secure and there is a sense of stability returning to their lives.

The next step for Sewalanka Foundation’s program is to actively support these individuals to generate income and to be able to identify and address their own needs. In all resettlement or relocation sites, Sewalanka Foundation’s staff are working to support community members to form small community based organisations (CBOs), which will hold regular meetings to discuss problems facing community members and to identify the communities’ most important needs. This system is based on Sewalanka Foundation’s long term objective of strengthening communities’ capacity for self-development through social mobilisation.

Sewalanka Foundation has already begun providing livelihood assistance to tsunami-affected communities across the district. Overall, the livelihood development strategy is working through Fishermen’s Cooperative Societies to provide fishermen with replacement engines, nets and boats and strengthen the capacity of three district-wide fishermen’s Unions.