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Red Cross responds to emerging needs of tsunami survivors
Kelly Bauer and Winnie Romeril, Special to RedCross.org
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 — COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Two years after a tsunami devastated the Sri Lankan coastline and forced thousands of people to resettle inland, many families have settled into new homes. This includes families who have moved to a brand new community in Walahanduwa near the southern city of Galle. While the people in this community are thankful for their new homes, conditions around the homes have deteriorated to the point that residents face a renewed threat of illness and disease.
American Red Cross water and sanitation engineer Shiran Randeniya removes a scrap of metal sheeting to reveal a sewage tank in need of replacement in Walahanduwa in southern Sri Lanka.
(Photo Credit: Winnie Romeril/American Red Cross)
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When local officials from the government of Sri Lanka’s Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA) appealed to humanitarian agencies for help, the American Red Cross stepped up to address these emerging health and hygiene needs. The American Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) are acting quickly to install proper sanitation systems for approximately 78 families who have resettled in this community.
“While the American Red Cross has many long-term projects underway to restore tsunami-affected communities, we cannot forget the basic needs of people like those in Walahanduwa,” said Ricardo Caivano, Senior Field Representative in Sri Lanka for the American Red Cross. “This project will have a quick impact, helping to reduce illness and improving the environment for these families.”
When American Red Cross experts made their initial assessment of the village, they found that many women and children were suffering from rashes and open sores on their feet and legs that came from simply walking around the village or playing outside.
The November monsoon rains flooded this village, which was built at the base of surrounding hills, overflowing the streets and yards with black water and raw sewage. Besides the obvious health hazards, stagnant pools of unclean water serve as an ideal breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes, an especially dangerous situation in Sri Lanka, where thousands of people suffer from illnesses such as dengue, chikungunya fever, malaria and Japanese Encephalitis each year.
In the village of Walahanduwa, the American Red Cross is connecting drainage canals, like this one, so that rain water will wash out of the village without flooding.
(Photo Credit: Winnie Romeril/American Red Cross)
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“When it rains, we can’t even send our children to school,” said Mrs. S.K.G. Chandrika, a resident of the village. “The roads flood with dirty water and sometimes pests like snakes. How can we send our children out in such conditions?”
In response, the American Red Cross and SLRCS have begun revamping the shallow drainage ditches along the roadsides by installing a proper and lasting concrete drainage system. This system will extend between rows of homes to remove the stagnant water and prevent further flooding. The houses will receive larger septic tanks, each with a natural filter system and five-year capacity, to clean the water before it is drained. In addition, residents will be encouraged to plant gardens over and around the underground tanks to soak up contaminants already in the soil.
T. L. Wilson Shantha, nicknamed 'Raju', shows American Red Cross water and sanitation specialist Shiran Randeniya how high the black water rose following recent monsoon rains.
(Photo Credit: Winnie Romeril/American Red Cross)
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“We knew we had to act quickly in a situation like this to help protect people from disease and illness,” said Leigh Burgess, water and sanitation expert in Sri Lanka for the American Red Cross. “At a community meeting, we asked for a committee of residents that the Red Cross would train in how to maintain the drainage and sanitation systems so these problems wouldn’t happen again in the future.”
According to Burgess, the very next day, community leaders came to the Red Cross office with a petition signed by all their neighbors, asking the Red Cross to move ahead with the project.
“We broke ground on the project one week later,” said Burgess.
The American Red Cross and SLRCS also have signed on a number of residents to assist with construction, supporting local incomes and giving people a sense of ownership over the work.
T. L. Wilson Shantha (known as “Raju”) is one such resident. “I want a better life for my family,” said Raju, pointing to the mark on his home, left over from flooding following a recent downpour. The water had entered the house, forcing his wife and toddler son to take refuge next door at his sister’s house.
Soon, Raju and his neighbors will have new, long-lasting water and sanitation systems to improve the conditions in this community.
Raju smiles knowing he is helping improve the lives of his family and neighbors in this newly-built community. "I want a better life for my family,” he said.
(Photo Credit: Winnie Romeril/American Red Cross)
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The American Red Cross has water and sanitation programs underway in five districts in Sri Lanka that will assist more than 250,000 people. These programs include restoring or building new wells and tanks to provide clean water, connecting houses to the rural water system and installing new toilets and septic systems. Together, the American Red Cross and SLRCS are addressing the emerging needs of tsunami-affected people, while working on long-term programs to restore their communities and improve their lives.
Kelly Bauer is an American Red Cross Information and Reporting Delegate, and Winnie Romeril is a Field Press Officer for the organization. Both women are based in Colombo, covering Sri Lanka and the Maldives for the American Red Cross Tsunami Recovery Program.
As part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the American Red Cross alleviates the suffering of victims of war, disaster and other international crises, and works with other Red Cross and Red Crescent societies to improve chronic, life-threatening conditions in developing nations. We reconnect families separated by emergencies and educate the American public about international humanitarian law. This assistance is made possible through the generosity of the American public.
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