No.6 WEEKLY HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW – GALLE DISTRICT 8 – 14 AUGUST 2005 HIGHLIGHTS Kurier Aid Austria launch their housing construction programme of 110 houses in Thuduwegoda Village, Hikkaduwa on August 5, and a Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for 150 houses in Kathaluwa, Hikkaduwa on Sunday, August 14. Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) in Galle District, providing information management services and GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping for the District Government and the humanitarian community in Galle District, and Matara and Hambantota districts. A visit to Galle by the Humanitarian Operations Advisor from the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery and the Evaluation Advisor and Coordinator for the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC). HOUSING AND SHELTER bedrooms on the upper level. The idea of a township has also been considered whereby the residents will On Friday, August 5, Kurier Aid Austria celebrated a also have facilities to several shops, a playground, ‘kick-off’ event with more than 400 people of and a community hall. The project is planned to be Hikkaduwa and its surrounding neighbourhoods to completed within 8 – 10 months timeframe. begin one of its four big housing projects in the Southern Province. Kurier Aid Austria (KAA) was founded by the Austrian Daily Newspaper “KURIER”, the Austrian Raiffeisen BankingGroup, the National Association of Construction Industry, the Insurance Company UNIQA, and the Austrian Red Cross, as a non-profit association to support the tsunami affected population in Sri Lanka after the tsunami disaster end of December. Consequently, Austrian families and private companies raised funds worth more than 10 Million Euros. The main concern for the KAA is to provide new houses for the many families who have lost their homes, and through extensive media coverage in the Kurier newspaper, the people of Austria have agreed to expand the funds to provide infrastructure input and economic, social and cultural support on a long term basis. Thuduwegoda Village housing construction in Hikkaduwa Division One of their first housing projects is to build 110 by Kurier Aid Austria. The highlight of the event was the unveiling houses in Thuduwegoda Village, Hikkaduwa. The of the Kurier Aid Austria signboard showing the master plan of the village and the names of the beneficiaries. project is worth USD 1 million, with the housing construction to be located only 300 metres from the During the ceremony on Friday, honorable monks main coastal road (Colombo Road). The housing participated, as well as local government authorities scheme covers a 908-perch site, with houses and friends of the beneficiaries and friends of KAA. designed by “1:2:4 Designs Limited”, in cooperation The highlight of the event was the introduction of the with the Austrian architect, Peter Fischer. The houses signboard which showed the master plan of the will be two-storey homes with water and electricity housing site, approved by the Urban Development facilities provided for each family with 780 sq ft living Authority (UDA), which showed all the names of the area on an individual plot of 5 perches. A kitchen, beneficiaries who are to receive the houses. The bathroom, toilet and an open space are located on ceremony included a handover of 110 identity cards the ground floor, with the living room and two to the beneficiaries who will be receiving the homes 1 OCHA Galle by mid-year 2006. This is an act of commitment by Many children lost their lives by drowning KAA to the local authorities, and to the future home- because they did not know how to swim. owners. Many children are traumatised and have an enormous fear of water and the ocean, yet every Other planned resettlement projects of KAA of one day of their lives will have to go near the ocean and two-storey houses in Galle District are in living on coastal villages. Kathaluwa (150 families), Ahangama (60 families), There are very few public pools in Sri Lanka and and Katugoda (90 families). The populations of the in addition to children, very few people are able to villages in Kathaluwa, Ahangama, and in swim. Thuduwegoda are mainly Singhala, whereas the The key objectives of Swim Lanka are: settlement in Katugoda represents a Muslim-majority 1. To help children overcome their present fear community. of water 2. To teach kids to swim (most cannot) The resettlements include technical infrastructure 3. To provide life saving courses for all Sri (water and sanitation, electrification, trails and roads), Lankans as well as public facilities (community centre, playground and pre-school). A Foundation Stone- AdoptSriLanka proposes to build 8 lanes, 25 metre Laying ceremony for 150 houses in Kathaluwa, swimming pools for use by the public in three areas Hikkaduwa took place on Sunday, August 14. For on the south coast of Sri Lanka. Based on the more information contact Ms Andrea Winter, Kurier success of these AdoptSriLanka would then build Aid Austria on email: [email protected]. more. Each swimming pool would employ 2 (Information provided by Kurier Aid Austria) attendants plus other staff for administration and maintenance of gardens, pool and buildings. EDUCATION AdoptSriLanka would encourage international students to volunteer during their holidays and/or gap When the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka, a large proportion of years and teach the children of Sri Lanka how to the deaths and casualties were children. In Sri Lanka swim. AdoptSriLanka would liaise with local schools children account for approximately 37% of the total to arrange times for children to come to swimming population, children were physically less able to classes during school time. outrun the water or withstand the force of the water and/or debris, and many Sri Lankan children are unable to swim. AdoptSriLanka is an organisation specifically set up to help the people and villages affected by the tsunami, is made up of locals and expatriates, who have intimate knowledge of the situation on the ground, and who can identify very quickly which are the areas needing immediate help. The mission of Adopt SriLanka is to work in and with the local communities on projects and areas that provide immediate means for people to be able to return to work. AdoptSriLanka have been working on a long- term project for the development of public swimming pools in the South of Sri Lanka. Three areas have been identified in the villages of Weligama and Tangalle, and in the city of Galle. The Governor of Swimming lessons for children in Galle Four Gravats, Galle District. the Southern Province has agreed to fully endorse AdoptSriLanka Swim Lanka project and are currently AdoptSrilanka’s Swim Lanka project in Tangalle (the in discussions with the local government to obtain the first Swim Lanka project to be initiated) has been a land to build the swimming pools. great success, using a fibreglass pools (5m x 3m x 1m). Currently the age groups are 6 to 12 with The rationale for the Swim Lanka project in Sri Lanka organised classes of up to 8 for 30 minute periods is that: and the children have lessons twice a week, both 2 OCHA Galle parents and coaches say that after 10 lessons most Reconstruction by Division (June), Galle District children have overcome their fear of water and we Number of Houses Damaged by Tsunami – DS have found this very effective trauma therapy. Division (June), Galle District Displacement of people aster the Tsunami by DS Division (June), Galle (Information from AdoptSriLanka website: District Impact of Tsunami on lives by DS Divisions http://www.adoptsrilanka.com/) (June), Galle District Divisional Maps for each division with GN Place-codes, FAO Delivery of Fishing Boats INFORMATION MANAGEMENT in the Southern Province (July), and other maps related to organization-specific maps, donor-specific maps, and district-specific maps. The Humanitarian Information Center for Sri Lanka (HIC) supports the coordination of humanitarian Please feel free to contact HIC in Galle either via assistance through the provision of information email [email protected] or by phone/fax 091 products and services. The HIC has recently placed 2248171. staff in Galle within the OCHA office, on the Ground Floor of the Kachcheri, to service the humanitarian community in the Southern Province (Galle, Matara, Hambantota). The objective of HIC is to provide information management support and technical backstopping for all district partners involved in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The role of HIC is specifically to add value to information (data collected by stakeholders) and to produce district- specific information products (maps, reports) in support of coordination. The production of maps and other information products has already started and a range of Galle maps are available at the OCHA office and on the HIC Sri Lanka website: http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/srilanka/mapcentre/ HIC also looks at providing a platform for information exchange and to support existing venues for dissemination of data. In order to be able to also disseminate organizations’ information on activities to the wider humanitarian community, the participation and cooperation of all agencies and organizations is essential. To fulfill requests for specific tasks, HIC has formulated a request form which could include details of current projects, on which HIC will be able to consolidate updated information on “Who does Ms Felicity Grant, HIC’s GIS Technical Advisor in the office, What Where” (W3). Consultations on specific needs situated at the Ground Floor of the Kachcheri in Galle, The office and queries of your projects and maps will be will serve information management needs in support of the District communicated directly to each organisation. Governments for Galle, Matara, and Hambantota. Maps that have been produced by HIC and are OTHER NEWS available at the HIC/ OCHA in Galle include: Galle District Administrative, Matara District A representative from the Office of the UN Special Administrative, Hambantota District Administrative, Envoy for Tsunami Recovery in New York conducted Puttalam District Administrative, Kalutara District a mission to Galle District between 10 – 11 August.