The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement Tsunami Recovery operation in Issue 4: Jan 20th 2006 - Feb 20th 2006

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies ICRC Update Update

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in Sri Lanka is comprised of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Federation), the Inter- national Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and 23 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Federation Special Representative urges Schaar also said that humanitarian agencies should not flexible approach to meet beneficiary needs be surprised at some of the problems and issues that need to be overcome, given the scale and complex- On a recent visit to Sri Lanka, Johan Schaar, the Federa- ity of the overall recovery effort. “The resources avail- tion’s Special Representative for the Tsunami Operation, able for post-tsunami recovery do not make them go highlighted the need for humanitarian actors engaged in away”, he explained. “The humanitarian community has post-tsunami recovery to be pragmatic in their efforts to learnt a lot during the past year and as the Red Cross assist the most vulnerable communi- Red Crescent, we need to look at ties. During his five day visit, Schaar these lessons and be very open was able to visit Red Cross projects to combining our resources within in Trincomalee and Kilinochichi. In the Movement as well as seeking his appraisal of the Red Cross Red partnerships with others. The end Crescent recovery operation he said result will lead to greater impact in that programming should react and our programmes.” adapt to the changing realities on the ground without being constrained by On a final note of caution, Schaar solutions that may no longer be rel- stressed that while the post-tsu- evant or appropriate. nami response is clearly into the reconstruction and rehabilitation “We should be flexible and open to stage, it is important to remember change, this means identifying and that there are still people facing adopting the most successful, quick Federation Special Representative - Johan Schaar emergency needs which should and people-centred approaches in our programming.” not be overlooked. As well meeting long term targets Schaar also stressed the need for greater efforts to be in areas such as housing and livelihoods, ensuring that made in advocacy. “We must remember the people who people who remain in temporary shelters have clean wa- are clearly marginalised and have little or no voice; the ter and decent sanitation, should be a priority. Red Cross Red Crescent Movement should be prepared to speak out on their behalf to make sure their needs and rights are respected.” HIGHLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS HIG According to Schaar, the biggest challenge currently Upgrading of transitional shelters continues P. 2 is to deliver the kind of sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation projects that people genuinely want. “We FOCUS on Community Based Health P. 3 cannot take short cuts however eager we are to help”, he cautioned. “Our success will be judged five years Mushroom cultivation helps restore livelihoods in Kalutara P. 4 from now on whether there are people living in the com- New unit to strengthen community participation P. 5 munities that we have built and whether those people have secure livelihoods”.

1 Upgrading of WatSan facilities continues families. The assessment team will determine the need at temporary shelter sites to continue distributions of relief items which are due to end this month. As well as improving conditions in the Almost thirty short term projects across 7 districts are un- camps by installing additional water taps, showers, toi- derway or have been completed to assist in the task of lets and sewage systems, the Canadian Red Cross has maintaining and upgrading water and sanitation facilities provided families with hygiene kits, milk and sugar sup- in temporary camps. These works include the construc- plements as well as sleeping mattresses. tion of bunds to prevent flooding at sites, construction of toilets and drainage facilities and installation of water storage tanks.

In , the Australian Red Cross recently con- structed a 20-meter long bund along the fence line at the ‘Muslim IDP camp’ site to prevent flooding. They have also constructed toilets, installed water storage tanks and showers and improved drainage facilities at the camp. The Australian Red Cross continues to provide 11,000 liters of drinking water daily to tsunami-affected families in the Hathugalle IDP camp, benefiting a total of 500 peo- ple. In Trincomalee District, the Hong Kong branch of the Red Cross Society of China has constructed toilets and wells, and has installed storage tanks at 3 sites. A Federation WatSan engineer puts the finishing touches to an artificial The French Red Cross is upgrading 120 latrines and wetland that will provide natural treatment to camp effluent. has cleared a 2km stretch of blocked drainage systems in two camps in Kumari in District. The French Red Cross is also establishing a water production plant Federation collaborates with IWMI on in Sammanthurai following an outbreak of Hepatitis A in WatSan training the area. The Federation is working in five camps in Am- para where improvements are being made to sanitation On 2 February, the Federation co-sponsored a two day facilities, including the construction of waste soakage training session on well monitoring theory and method- pits, piping and provision of a water pump. Similar work ologies, undertaken in cooperation with the - has been completed in the Al Bahriya , Dharul based International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Falal School, and Al Hijra School camps – benefiting 405 15 participants underwent the training including 6 Feder- families. ation water and sanitation project officers from Ampara, and Matara. The training included sessions on mi- Also in Ampara, the German Red Cross is active at 8 cro-biological testing and instruction in equipment to test sites across the Addalachenai Division, where it has water salinity and conductivity. Researchers from IWMI cleaned a total of 244 wells, upgraded and reconstructed also explained to participants how to detect the preva- 98 shelters and provided repair kits to 220 families. The lence of mosquito larvae in household wells. The Red German Red Cross continues to produce over 200,000 Cross Red Crescent has an extensive well cleaning pro- liters of water per day from two water production plants gramme that includes monitoring of water quality. This in Ampara, most of which is taken by water bowsers to programme has focused on the North and East and will supply temporary camps in the district. The German Red soon be expanded to include Galle and Matara districts. Cross has also upgraded 194 shelters in Mullaitivu after the flooding that took place in November.

In the Poduyaya camp in Angulana, the Federation has completed construction of 2 new soakage pits and 2 new water points. The improvements will benefit 170 families living in the camp. At Dodalla camp in Galle District where 50 families presently live, a shower area and soakage pits were constructed. Drainage facilities were improved or constructed at the Morakola camp in Galle and at the Gemunu camp in Matara.

The Canadian Red Cross and the SLRCS Colombo City branch are undertaking an assessment of transitional camps in Colombo city. The St-Meris’s, Bonvistar and Vistwik camps built by the government and managed by In the North and East, Red Cross teams have cleaned over 5500 the SLRCS are hosting a total of 233 tsunami affected household wells since the tsunami 2 Permanent Housing Update The Red Cross Red Crescent Community Based Health The Red Cross Red Crescent permanent housing pro- Programme (CBHP) is currently being implemented in 14 gramme is progressing well with close to 2000 homes districts across Sri Lanka. Working mostly in rural areas, currently under various stages of construction. In Trin- trained Red Cross Community Health volunteers and comalee, the Japanese Red Cross is near to completing Community Health promoters are acting to maintain ef- 53 houses on the Ranjith Kodikara site where 60 homes ficient health services through a variety of programmes. will be built. In February the Japanese Red Cross togeth- Working closely with government health officials, the er with the SLRCS held a ground-breaking ceremony at CBH teams aim to reduce communicable diseases, pro- the 5th Mile Post site where work commences this week vide maternal care and offer First Aid services. on a further 71 houses. In the Irish Red Cross has begun construction on 50 houses at Arayanpathi and ‘The main aim of the project is to reduce vulnerability the Federation has completed foundations for 16 houses to disease by empowering communities to achieve and at Uriyankaddu where 58 homes will be built. The Irish sustain good health’, says Dr.Lanka Dissanayake, the Red Cross is also working on the Janaraja Vidyalaya site Executive Director for Health at the SLRCS. in Kalutara where construction has been completed up to the first floor level on 64 two-storey apartments. At the Districts and divisions targeted under the Commu- Lagos Watta 2 site in Kalutara, the Spanish Red Cross nity Based Health Programme are carefully selected is building 69 houses out which 20 have been completed through a process know as Participatory Rapid Assess- up to roof level. In Matara district the 18 houses being ment (PRA) – followed by a baseline study prior to the built by the Federation at Kananke Watte will be com- commencement of the project. A Red Cross community pleted by the end of March and at another site at Kon- based health framework has been developed for projects gala Hena, 24 foundations have been laid and block across the island, to guide project implementation and work has reached up to roof level on 12 houses. guarantee a standard degree of training for all involved staff and volunteers, as well as ensuring the most effec- tive, impact based assistance for local communities.

In the North and East alone, over 250 community based staff and volunteers have been trained to provide com- munity based health support through an integrated project with ICRC (working in the region for over 20 years), SLRCS and various other components of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.

The Japanese Red Cross is running a specialist eye- sight restoration and vision correction programme in Trincomalee, providing eye screening, issuing specta- cles, and referring patients for cataract operations where needed. So far, the medical team has held 20 eye camps, FOCUS on Community Based Health and screened 3363 patients – 285 of whom underwent Construction nears completion on 60 new homes built by the Japa- needed. So far, the medical team has held 20 eye nese Red Cross in Trincomalee camps, and screened 3363 patients – 285 of whom un- derwent cataract operations and 2,841 who received spectacles. Building back buffer stocks In Ampara, , Galle, Kalutara, Polon- Between November and February, the Red Cross Red naruwa, and Puttalam the community based health Crescent responded to a variety of natural disasters projects are underway with selection of candidates and which included floods, landslides and urban fires. Emer- training of staff and volunteers. Another pre-tsunami gency relief stocks across the country were left severely CBHP project in Kurunegala is currently being revised depleted. During February, non food relief items com- to improve its effectiveness. In addition, assessments prised of 10,000 hygiene kits, 20,000 hurricane lamps, and discussions with local health authorities are con- 40,000 saris and sarongs and 1000 rolls of plastic sheet- tinuing to identify baseline indicators which indicate ing have been sent to replenish stocks in the North, East current health-related issues and which will be used to and South of the country. In the South, the relief items will measure progress and impact of the projects. be stored at the Federations regional warehouse in Galle where the supplies can be easily distributed to SLRCS Running in parallel with CBHP is the Red Cross first aid branches in the South in the event of future emergencies. programme. The plan for 2006 is to train or retrain first In the North and East, supplies have been dispatched aid instructors for each of SLRCS’s 26 branches. So far, to boost stocks held in Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, one course has been held in Sinhala with a second course Kilinochchi and . in Tamil planned for the end of February. Approximately

3 50 first aid instructors will then train all SLRCS staff volunteers. A total of 1000 families in each district will and volunteers, including the Community Based Health benefit from the project. teams. SLRCS First aid volunteers provide vital services at public events such as the Perahera and at poll- The Canadian Red Cross has adopted a comprehensive ing stations during elections. approach to providing assistance in Sri Lanka. It aims to assist not only those directly affected by last Decem- National Red Cross Societies working in the field of ber’s tsunami but also people indirectly affected in non- Community based health and First Aid are: Australian coastal regions of the country Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross Temporary Nurse’s Training School inaugu- rated in Ampara

On 11 February, the temporary nurse’s training school erected by the Red Cross in Ampara was inaugurated by the Deputy Minister of Health, Jayarathna Herath. The fully equipped canvassed hall provided by the Norwegian Red Cross will serve as an auditorium and is intended to help the Ministry of Health in meeting its goal of training 15,000 nurses by 2015. The hall has been fully equipped for training purposes with audio visual and IT facilities.

During his visit, the Deputy Minister also unveiled two plaques. One marked the commencement of construc- tion work on a permanent nurse’s training school that will be undertaken by the Danish and Norwegian Red Cross

Training Sri Lanka Red Cross volunteers in first aid will help save lives Societies. The second plaque marked the beginning of in the event of future disasters construction of the new Accident and Emergency Unit of Ampara Hospital to be built by the Federation.

SLRCS & Canadian Red Cross launch Com- munity-Based Health Project in Vavuniya

An inauguration ceremony was held on the 10th of Feb- ruary to mark the opening of the first SLRCS and Cana- dian Red Cross Community Based Health (CBH) Project in Cheddikulam, in the northern district of Vavuniya. The ceremony was hosted by the Chairman of the SLRCS Vavuniya branch, Dr. P. Satayalingam and was attended by over 80 representatives of the community including members of parliament and religious leaders.

The five-year joint initiative aims to develop and strength- en the capacity of communities, families and individuals to improve their health and living conditions through self- help action, facilitated by the community, the SLRCS and the government. The holistic approach will focus on areas that include community health and psychosocial A new intake of trainee nurses gathers in the temporary nurse’s train- support. The focal point of the community initiatives as ing school in Ampara donated by the Norwegian Red Cross well as other CBH project activities will be the develop- ment of Community Health and Wellness Centers. All activities will be facilitated through SLRCS staff and vol- Mushroom cultivation helps restore liveli- unteers trained in psychosocial intervention. hoods in Kalutara

The Canadian Red Cross is simultaneously developing Before the tsunami, Shamalie Dias was earning a good CBH projects in three other vulnerable districts, Tawala- living as an entrepreneur. She ran a small-scale mush- ma in Galle, Horowupotana in Anaradhapura and Alut- room cultivation project which provided a steady income Oya & Pimburattrewa in . The team for along with the profits she made from the sale of cush- each project will include one branch coordinator, up to ion covers and garments that she stitched with help from five community health promoters and up to ten SLRCS four girls that she employed. But she lost everything to

4 the tsunami including five computers that her sister used TRCO provides over 100 boats to tsunami- for a small computer class that she ran. affected fishermen

A Spanish Red Cross supported mushroom cultiva- On 2 February, the Red Cross provided 125 tsunami-af- tion project in her hometown of Kalutara just south of fected fishermen from Colombo, Kalutara, Matara, Putta- the capital Colombo is now helping Shamalie regain lam and Trincomalee with boats, engines and nets. This her livelihood through training, provision of equipment is part of a wider boat manufacturing and distribution and funding as well as identifying potential buyers of the project being undertaken by the SLRCS and the Taiwan mushrooms that she cultivates. Red Cross Organisation (TRCO) aimed at restoring the livelihoods of coastal fishing communities. During 2006, A darkened room in her half built house doubles up as a 550 boats will be manufactured and handed over to ben- germination room for her mushroom spores. The neatly eficiaries. The sea-going FRP boats will be distributed wrapped plastic bags are then taken to a growing room to marginalised fishermen who, for various reasons may comprising a temporary shed made from wood and plas- not have been included in earlier distributions made by tic sheeting that sits on the incomplete second floor of other organisations. The project will also include training her house. The temporary shed will soon be replaced in boat repair and some beneficiaries will be provided by a permanent room that the Red Cross is helping her opportunities to learn new livelihoods or to enhance their to build. existing skills.

Shamalie and her mother are content. “The training and The boats are being manufactured using local expertise equipment we received from the Red Cross has helped to standards stipulated by the Fisheries Ministry. The us increase the yield of mushrooms. I gather several TRCO is also supporting a SLRCS project to construct hundred grams which earns us about Rs.300 every day”, around 400 houses for tsunami affected families in Rat- says Shamalie’s mother Ariyawathi. malana.

Shamalie is eager to share her knowledge and help oth- On 19th February a handing over ceremony took place er families affected by the tsunami. She is now training 3 in Addalachenai as the SLRCS and the German Red neighbours on how to grow mushrooms. Cross distributed 20 fishing boats and outboard motors. Further distributions of similar fishing equipment will take 21 tsunami affected families are being assisted under place in March in Thirrukovil and Komari. Other liveli- the existing mushroom cultivation project. In addition, the hoods projects undertaken by the German Red Cross Spanish Red Cross is helping to train other beneficiar- in Ampara include permanent housing construction, re- ies in a range of livelihoods support projects that involve habilitation of health facilities as well as large scale con- food processing, nursery management, family business struction of water infrastructure schemes. garden and cinnamon cultivation.

“We are encouraged by the progress of this project”, New unit to strengthen community partici- explains Marta Alejano Monge, Livelihoods Delegate pation in tsunami recovery programmes with the Spanish Red Cross. “The next step is to pro- vide training to beneficiaries on how to register their The Federation has recently established a community businesses with the local authorities, how to maintain a development unit to ensure the full participation of Red proper accounting system as well as providing them with Cross Red Crescent beneficiaries in programme plan- the basics of running a small business”. ning, implementation and monitoring. A Coordinator and 3 Community Development Officers (CDO) have been appointed to improve upon and secure communication with beneficiaries in resettlement areas where Federa- tion programming in housing, water and sanitation and support to transitional shelters is underway.

The CDOs are currently working in Batticaloa, Matara and Galle, where, together with Sri Lanka Red Cross Society volunteers, they are undertaking a series of con- sultations in order to verify beneficiary lists of the Fed- eration’s permanent housing programmes. Their primary role is to ensure that beneficiaries are active participants in decision making processes that affect their future. The CDO’s will be working with these same populations to identify their livelihoods needs and the long term aim is to assist with community development activity in all sec- tors, including water and sanitation, disaster manage- Mushroom cultivation - a simple solution towards restoring livelihoods ment and community based health.

5 The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world’s largest voluntary humanitarian organisation, providing assistance without any discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or po- litical opinions. The International Federation’s mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity.

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National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are members of the Interna- tional Federation and act as auxiliaries to the public authorities of their own coun- tries. They provide a range of services including disaster management, health and social programmes. The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society embodies the work and principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The SLRCS is a voluntary humanitarian organisation committed to serving the most vulnerable in Sri Lanka without discrimination. Originally established in 1936 at the Central Branch of the British Red Cross, today, the SLRCS has developed into a nationwide organisation, with a network of 26 branches and 6000 volun- teers. SLRCS 307 2/1 T.B. Jayah Mw. - Colombo 10 - Tel. 2691095 - Fax. 2695434 [email protected] www.redcross.lk

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