| PROGRESS
OF OUR PROJECTS IN THE EAST
The last four weeks
have been spent arranging the logistics involved in carrying out our
bouse-building projects. To a large degree, the livelihood projects
have been successfully carried out. Following is a summary of the progress
we have made in each of our projects.
1. Housing project to build 43 homes with an outhouse toilet
each, two wells and a community centre for villagers in Kaillapattu
and Eatham, just outside the town of Pottuvil.
This project has moved slowly for two reasons: one is that we could
not get clarity on the ownership of the land we were to build the houses
on, and the other is that we had to engage in a protracted discussion
with the Tamil Relief Organization (TRO), the relief arm of the LTTE,
regarding the design of the houses we were planning to build. Our houses
are a combination of cement and wooden plank walls and thatched roofs,
while theirs are ones with complete brick walls and tiled roofs.
The first issue was not resolved satisfactorily. We were given a ten-acre
block of land to build the houses on by four individuals who said they
were the owners of the properties. Having got letters documenting their
donation, we sought local government confirmation that the parties giving
us the land in fact owned the land. This confirmation was not forthcoming,
in spite of repeated promises that it would be provided. We have therefore
abandoned using the property and have instead decided to build on individual
blocks of land owned by tsunami victims. Construction has begun on four
individual sites.
The design issue has been resolved after initially agreeing to build
two houses according to our design and two others to the TRO design.
Having seen our design nearing completion, the TRO have agreed with
us that ours is a more suitable one.
We have now got the list of names of the families for whom homes are
to be built, as well as the details of the individual properties on
which houses are to be built. As things stand, we will be building 18
small homes (180 sq. ft.), 18 standard homes (400 sq. ft.) and 7 large
homes (540 sq. ft.). To put size into perspective, most of the villagers
for whom we are building homes lived in modest homes of between 100
sq. ft. to 200 sq. ft.
We expect to mobilize more work crews by the week of the 21st of March
to move the pace of construction along. We remain hopeful that we will
be able to complete building by the end of June of this year.
Hilfswerk will carry out a water supply project to serve the area in
which the houses above are to be built.
2. Housing project to build 57 homes with an outhouse toilet
each, two wells and a community centre for villagers in Aaittimunai,
on the far side of the lagoon in Arugam Bay.
Work has proceeded smoothly with this project. The construction of approximately
40 of the 57 toilets is now underway and we expect all toilets will
be completed by the middle of April.
We managed to secure funding for the building of 57 houses for this
village through Amenti Relief and Vitol. Four of these families are
made up of single individuals who have opted to live with an extended
family member rather than alone. Hence the total number of houses we
are building will total 53. Of these, 25 will be the small size, 26
the standard size and two the larger size.
In addition to the houses we are building, Hilfswerk has agreed to fund
an additional 60 houses and toilets for families in this village. Of
this number, 14 are for poor families living in the village that were
not tsunami affected, while the balance 46 are for those who were, but
came to the camp more recently (ie. since our initial involvement and
subsequent agreement to build houses for the tsunami-affected families
then there). Hilfswerk has also agreed to fund the building of five
wells for the village, hence it will not be necessary for us to build
the two we had originally intended. The logic of expanding the project
is to try and avoid the development of resentment and jealousies within
the village community between those who receive aid and those who do
not.
Given the expanded scope of this particular project, we expect the completion
date to be pushed back to the end of September of this year.
3. Livelihood project to help fishermen repair or buy new boats
and nets.
We have successfully disbursed the budget we had earmarked for this
project (as detailed in our last circular). However, Hilfswerk, as a
separate project of theirs, will help an additional fifty fishermen.
These fishermen have been identified by our people on the ground and
will all receive new motorized boats and nets.
4. Livelihood project to help tradesmen and other self-employed
individuals.
We have disbursed $1,270 to the first three individuals on the list
in our last circular (an aluminium fitter and two carpenters), as well
as an additional $1,500 to a poultry farmer (whose details are on the
list below). In addition to the $2,770 disbursed, we have received applications
from 14 other individuals and a Women’s society for disbursements
adding up to $15,300.
In addition, it has been brought to our attention that many people who
used bicycles as their primary mode of transport lost theirs in the
tsunami and do not have the resources to replace them.
Since we had budgeted just $7,500 for this particular project to begin
with, and would like to support those who have applied to us so far,
we have decided to expand it. We will therefore request KCF, who have
already supported our efforts and who visited us last week to see what
additional needs there might be, for the funds to support the expansion
of our livelihood project.
The complete list of those we have either helped (in italics) or hope
to help are as follows:
1. A. Jaham, an aluminium fitter who employed 6 people and lost
all his equipment to the tsunami. We have spent $350 to replace his
equipment. Funds have been disbursed, tools bought, and Jaham is back
in business.
2. M.L.M. Farook, a carpenter who lost his house as well as his equipment.
He employed 8 people – we spent $650 to replace his tools. Funds
have been disbursed, tools bought, and Farook is now working on our
site building houses in Aaitthimunai.
3. M.P. Ariffdeen, a carpenter who lost some of his tools. He employs
4 people and we spent $270 on him. Funds have been disbursed, tools
bought, and Farook is now working on our site building houses in Aaitthimunai.
4. A.H.Hakeem, a carpenter who lost all his tools. Though he was
identified on our update from last month as someone in need of tools,
he has been helped by another organisation and will not be needing anything
from us.
5. M.C. Cassim Faleel, who lost some of his tools. We will spend $200
to replace the lost items. He employs three.
6. A.C.M. Razak, owned a carpentry workshop employing eight people.
He needs $2,500 to rebuild and re-equip his workshop.
7. M.H.M. Kaleefa, owned a carpentry workshop employing six people in
Kotugal, Pottuvil. He needs $935.
8. M.D. Ufardeen, owned a carpentry workshop employing three people
in Kotugal, Pottuvil. He needs $830.
9. M.D. Hameethulebbe, owned a carpentry workshop employing seven people
in Kotugal, Pottuvil. He needs $2,075.
10. Kanapathi Pillai, a mason from Eatham, Pottuvil, needs $430 to buy
a brick-making machine. He will be supplying our housing project in
Kaillapatthu.
11. Hair salon owner who lives in Kundumadhu, Pottuvil but had his salon
in Arugam Bay. He needs $200 to replace the equipment he lost.
12. M.I. Sharifdeen, is a poultry farmer in Pakkiawatta, Pottuvil
who needed $1,500 to restart his poultry business. He has four families
working for him raising his chicks. Funds were disbursed and he is back
in operation and is supplying our relief base with chicken.
13. I.L. Salfiyar, a shop owner in Arugam Bay who lost his shop, house,
wife and child to the tsunami. He has re-started his shop again using
loan funds from a local bank. He has applied for $1,500 to buy stock.
14. M.I.M. Hanifa, owned a carpentry workshop employing three people
in Jalaldeen Square, Pottuvil. He needs $790.
15. M.A.M. Subair, owned a carpentry workshop employing four people
in Jalaldeen Square, Pottuvil. He needs $850.
16. A.K. Ismail Lebbe, owned an ice hut on Arugam Bay beach. He employed
six people and needs $905 to re-start his business.
17. S.H. Asirthumma, was self-employed and made straw mats together
with her four grown daughters in Kotugal, Pottuvil. She needs $400 to
buy raw materials and basic equipment.
18. S.T.H. Muburaka, was self-employed and ran a small tea boutique
in Kotugal, Pottuvil. She needs $1,000 to re-start her boutique.
19. A.L. Mohamaduthambi, was self-employed and ran a small grocery and
snack shop in Kotugal, Pottuvil. He needs $1,200.
20. The Women’s Society in Kotugal has asked for ten sewing machines
to give to tsunami-affected members who have been trained to sew as
a means of generating an income for themselves. The total required to
fund the machines is estimated at $1,300.
21. Other – purchase bicycles for those who lost theirs in the
tsunami and who need them to either go to work or for their work. We
have asked for applications and expect to cap the first lot at 100 people.
The total cost is expected to come to between $7,000 and $9,000.
We expect this project to continue until at least the end of June of
this year, or until funds run out.
5. Trauma
counseling and activity play groups in the camps.
Our trauma counseling
efforts are continuing and we have six counselors who have been active
in a number of camps and schools in and around Arugam Bay, Pottuvil
and, further north, in Komari.
We have also have
two artists from Spain who have been conducting art therapy alongside
the counselors for the last four weeks.
A psychologist,
experienced in post-9/11 trauma counseling, has just flown out from
New York to contribute two weeks of her time to augment the work of
the counselors and give them additional training.
PROGRESS ON OUR PROJECTS
IN THE SOUTH
Our activities
in the south have been scaled back over the last month as we have seen
more and more NGO's become active in this area, and feel we can accomplish
more and needs are greater in the east.
The scholarships
program was successfully set up and is being taken over by Miguel's
wife, Irstell, with funds raised independently of LRA and will be expanded
to further schools along the coast.
The enterprise
intitiative program which was successful has now been limited to one
or two specific cases where needs are greatest.
Our two teams of
ex Indian army volunteers, kindly sent to us by Securewest International,
have now left after doing a great job with clearing land and distributing
goods in the south. A big thank you to them.
Thank you once
again to all those who have donated their time and money to our projects
both in the east and the south. We would also like to take this opportunity
to thank Cindy and Steve who have done a marvelous job in running Ulpotha
which has freed us up to devote all our energies to the relief work.
We hope to have
our 4th report out by the end of April. |
