The Sri Lankan government estimates that nearly 800,000
people have been displaced in the country. Most are accommodated in 890 refugee
camps and the others are with friends or relatives. According to the
Commissioner General for Essential Services, relief materials are being
regularly issued to the affected people. Each person receives a weekly ration
of relief materials, on the basis of food stamps, worth up to Rs 375 ($3.5), which will contain food (rice or wheat
flour, lentils, sugar) and other essential needs (cooking oil, fuel etc). The
relief materials will be issued through the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation
and Reconciliation. At local level, Co-operative branches under the supervision
of District Secretaries will issue the materials.
Rivalry between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Army is affecting relief work. There
is co-operation between the military and the LTTE only in some areas. The LTTE
and the TNA complain that the Army and the police Special Task Force (STF) are
preventing relief reaching the affected Tamil and Muslim people in the
North-East. But the TNA has refused to
join an all-party High Level Disaster Management Committee (HDMC) to oversee
relief operations. The LTTE has made an unrealistic demand that all relief and
reconstruction work must be carried out through them. Local people say that
local communities must be empowered and play a major role in planning and
relief and reconstruction work.
The Tsunami has brought new pressures on both the
Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE. Both sides seem to have suffered heavily,
losing men and military equipment. Some of the military camps close to the
seashore were destroyed. The LTTE had its naval bases along the coast of
In a statement after a meeting in
The continuing
.
THE
TAMIL PEOPLE OF
The Tamil National Alliance members of parliament
had failed in their duty to the people of
OfERR
SERVICES GREATLY APPRECIATED BY BENEFICIARIES, AND PEOPLE IN CUDDALORE,
NAGAPATTINAM AND KANNIYAKUMARY DISTRICTS
The people and the communities so badly affected
by the massive Tsunami waves of December 26th 2004, are slowly
recovering and finding their feet once more by the help of the many services
rendered by the INGO’s, NGOs and government agencies.
OfERR was one of the first NGOs to rush to the areas of devastation and get
involved in the relief activities which commenced the very day the Tsunami
struck. OfERR over the years in its services to the refugees has acquired rich
experience in the fields of counselling,
communication and leadership, education, health and nutrition, women
empowerment etc. The people in the areas of our work are fully supportive of
the services OfERR is doing. Being a grassroots organization the OfERR
volunteers are able to establish immediate rapport with the people who were
affected and the community in general.
In the Cuddalore
district OfERR volunteers met the village secretary at Chinna
Vaikkal / Kannagi Nagar and apprised him on the work OfERR has done and the
work envisaged among the victims of the Tsunami. The volunteers counselled 23 young girls among whom many had dropped out
of school education. Their houses were visited and counsellors
espoused the need for the continuance of the education. The girls have evinced
interest in women’s empowerment and training in tailoring. 17 youth were met
who requested sports materials to keep them occupied. Our counsellors
spoke to them to enable them to get over the fear of going to sea as they were
fishermen. After several sessions of counselling they
plucked up enough courage to recommence fishing by putting out to the sea. Four
persons who were ill and had visited several hospitals for treatment were counselled and given medical advice. The family cousellors
met and counselled 41 persons. Many among them had
lost one or more loved ones in the family. The counselling
has greatly helped them to come out of the deep sense of loss and have accepted
the reality of their situation. The group counsellors
counselled 86 persons and explained how as
individuals, they also have to live as members of a society. It would not help
anybody if those who have lost their near and dear ones kept weeping and
crying. Many have now picked up the thread of their lives and got back to their
normal living.
In Pillu-medu individual
counselling was done among 29 persons. Many of them
had mental depression due to the losses sustained. The counsellors are
making progress. 8 persons were given first aid treatment and those suffering
from abdominal problems were referred to the hospitals for specific treatment.
The Self Help Groups (SHG) were met and OfERR volunteers explained to about 40
women the benefits of savings through SHGs. 19 youths
who had been employed before the Tsunami and had given up employment due to
bitter feelings arising from their losses. They were counselled
and given awareness on Tsunami and disaster preparedness in general.
Family counsellors counselled 51 persons that enabled them to recover from
bitter pains and feelings of frustration, mental depression etc. Group counselling was done and 97 persons benefited. They were
told that the Tsunami had struck people from all walks of life and had not been
a respecter of persons - great or small. The OfERR volunteers also met two panchayat leaders and explained the work being done among
the people affected by the Tsunami.
In
the Nagapattinam District Psychological therapy has
been the pivotal program to provide help to all those who were affected by the
Tsunami. In fact the villages in the Nagapattinam
took the brunt of the onslaught of the Tsunami waves. The volunteers had
visited and counselled the household members in the
14 main villages. The trained counsellors, health
workers, women empowerment animators, village coordinators and data processing
staff from OfERR head office were all involved in the massive task of reaching
psychosocial help to the victims of Tsunami.
All
NGOs were keen in rendering general help, but did not take into consideration
the following matters.
(a) The care of young girls
and their essential needs.
(b)Lactating mothers / Pregnant women.
Following
on the proposal to have the tailoring training at Chandrapadi
village to be entrusted to OfERR, 54 persons in the above two villages have
applied to join the training to be conducted in two batches.
In
the counselling relief work, counsellors,
health workers, young girls in women empowerment, village coordinators, awareness
trainers, and data collectors in connection with documents, are involved in
this counselling work. They visit houses and meet
young girls, chronic patients, SHG and talk to them. During the fieldwork they
also meet NGOs viz FMM sisters/SAFI organisation / DYFI etc. Rev. Sister Pushpa
from
The
management advised the counsellors and volunteers
working in the field with regard to distribution of medicines and other medical
assistance, to tsunami affected people, to adhere to the rules prescribed in
the Indian medical regulations. The counsellors met
MMI organisation workers and spoke to them. They have
started computer and tailoring training and also training in driving in Tharangampadi. DONBOSCO have started vocational training in
Chandrapadi village. With the increase in the number
of NGO’s in this area others are endeavouring to
start services in convenient places that are vacant. In addition to the
services in counselling OfERR would plan to address
the problems of young girls and women and their immediate needs. In this regard
the women empowerment group would take steps to form groups consisting young
girls and strengthen same to enable empowerment. The fieldwork differs somewhat
from the work done in the camps. In view of the competitive environment created
by NGOs in the services, OfERR too has to show its mettle.
In
the Vellaikovil village it was observed that
awareness among pregnant women was not enough. They should be carefully looked
after and medical advise be given as to what they should do during the
pregnancy period. OfERR has opened 5 tailoring centres
in five village’s viz. Kumarakudi, Manickapangu, Chinnamedu, Vepanchery, and Kuttiyandiyur
having 35, 44, 21, 28, and 46 respectively students participating in the
training. In the Kuttiyandiyur north by the street
side, adjoining the main road there is a well which the women use for bathing
purpose. As this well is in the open space they wanted this well to have
enclosures, all around.
A
joint meeting of the NGOs viz EFICOR, DON BOSCO,
World Vision, ROSA, SEEDA, FMM, GUSHI, MMI, BFWF, VBEDS, TREE, DMI. took place at Tharangambadi. Among
these NGOs DMI a North Indian organisation
wanted to link with an organisation to do social work
in
One
pregnant woman from Perumalpettai village was taken
to the Tharangambadi government hospital for urgent
treatment. The parents of 23 students who dropped out of school were met and
action taken to send them back to school. The houses of 15 handicaped
persons were visited by the counsellors. A woman aged
49 by the name of Kupuratnam requested hearing aid
from our counsellors. A person who has lost his left
leg due to cancer requested a tricycle to move about. 4 students whose eyes
were affected were taken to Nagai hospital by Mr. Yesudas
Two of these students were admitted to Madurai Aravind Hospital for free treatment on instruction from
Nagai Doctor. One eye of a child was completely affected. Arrangements were
made to take Mr. Thanusiri, mentally affected to Thanjai hospital. The details of SHG were collected and,
the streamlining of their daily work was explained to them. The SHG groups requested library
facilities for them.
KANNIYAKUMARY DISTRICT
OfERR counsellors are doing counselling work in the
six Tsunami affected villages of Kannyakumary. They
did health counselling for patients and counselling for those who had not
returned to their work. One of the counselling group checked weights of the
children in conjunction with - UNICEF Organisation. The counsellors visit each
and every affected house in the villages and do counselling after identifying
the particular needs such as handicapped persons, mentally retarded, pregnant
women, chronic patients, helpless persons, lactating mothers, aged persons,
orphans, school drop out students etc. Our volunteers have given counselling to
suit the needs of the affected peoples and on a case by case basis. The people
have informed our counsellors that they had lost all their work equipment and
were therefore unable to return to work. It should be mentioned here that heavy
damages have been caused to the fishing equipment’s in the fishing villages.
OfERR counsellors have set-up
self help groups in the villages among young girls, youths, and women. The counsellors daily visit the affected villages and meet
members of affected families and counsel them. They give individual and group counselling. The
affected families were counselled to relieve them
from “Tsunami fear psychosis” and overcome mental shock. Persons with family
problems such as addiction to alcohol, gambling, and debt burden etc were
identified and given proper counselling to refrain
from such activities. The counsellors meet school
Head mistresses, Head masters and teachers of schools in the villages and
obtain information on the state of the students. The drop out students are counselled and encouraged to get back to school. The
attendance in school has been very much reduced due to ‘Tsunami fear’ in the
minds of the school going students. Such students are counselled
accordingly.
The
Counsellors listen to the problems of the peoples. The people also welcome the
counsellors talking to them and listening to them. They say that by these
interactions loosens their burdened minds and feel very much relaxed. Our
counsellors give most importance to the badly affected people. The counsellors and volunteers working in the
field develop good rapport with local leaders and keep them informed of the day
to day work they perform and developments that have taken place. The
counsellors/volunteers meet other NGO’s working in the same villages and
exchange views on the services being rendered in the villages. Helpless persons
and aged persons are identified and advise given to manage the situation of
loneliness in their lives. The aged persons are being advised to spend their
time with children to divert their mind. The children with the fear of Tsunami
haunting them, are given play things. The counsellors also
spend time to play with them.
The
counsellors met the Head mistress of the
The people in the villages are appreciative of OfERR
counselling team’s empathy to overcome their stressed state of mind and
feelings. The counsellors met the pregnant women and advised them on what they
should do during their pregnancy. The counsellors / volunteers identify mental
health professionals and send identified mentally affected patients to such
professionals for treatment.
They
identify NGOs working in the area and help people to utilize their services as per their needs. They
develop good rapport with school teachers, village leaders. Panchayat leaders who are very
influential in the area. They will be a source of help in collecting
information, such as, the population, number of schools in the areas,
government offices, hospitals, district collectors’ offices, primary health
centres, information centres and other information that may be of use for the
counsellors to to provide their services in the best
possible way. For example if documents such as Birth certificates, Death
certificates, Marriage certificates had been lost due to the Tsunami, the
affected people could be directed to the relevant authority in order to obtain fresh certificates.
Lactating
mothers and under nourished children are advised on nutrition and health care.
Mothers who underwent surgery for birth control and family planning have been
advised to undergo reverse treatment, if they wished to have children. The
people along coastal areas still dread the Tsunami, for if there is a rumour of
Tsunami, or if the sea waves rise for some reason or
other, they flee to safer places. The young girls are given training in
tailoring and a good number of students have joined this training. OfERR has
opened 4 tailoring training centres in Cuddalore
District and 6 tailoring training centres in Nagapattinam
District. Most of the other NGO’S are providing relief in the form of
materials, which lasts for a short period. OfERR provides relief in the form of
counselling which is a life long input that strengthens the minds of the
people.
The
people complain that a lot of discrepancy exists in the distribution of relief
materials. They say the relief materials do not reach the really affected
people. The affected people have whole-heartedly welcomed OfERR’s
counselling programme.
The
feed-back is that OfERR counsellors are patient listeners to their grievances
they share with them. Many have expressed the feeling that the words of consolation
are most comforting and encourages them to return to a
normal frame of mind. The affected people approached OfERR counsellors and
requested help to obtain work equipment that were lost in the Tsunami. On
representations made by OfERR volunteers to help repair the damaged houses, the
District Collector of Keelmanakudi had told the
people that new houses will be built for the fully damaged ones and partially
damaged houses will be repaired.
The counsellors did individual and group counselling
whenever they felt the need for same. Sports materials were given to young
girls, boys and children as it was helpful in diverting their minds from the
Tsunami fear psychosis.
TSUNAMI
RELIEF BY OfERR (
As soon as the Tsunami struck the coasts at
OfERR counting on the considerable experience
gained in the field of Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation among the Ceylon Tamil
refugee camps in Tamilnadu during the last two
decades, immediately pressed into service more than 50 volunteer workers. These
volunteers had been empowered and trained in various fields of skills training
particularly in first aid health care, counselling,
communication & leadership, whilst being refugees in
Soon after the Tsunami disaster struck, the
situation was chaotic to say the least in the areas affected by the Tsunami.
This was principally due to the non-existence of a disaster plan to respond to the emergency that
had arisen in the entire coast of
In the meantime relief items had begun to move
into the affected areas and OfERR (CEYLON) workers were able to access camps
set up to care for the tsunami affected people and distribute essential items
among them. During the 1st phase of OfERR (CEYLON) rendered some of
the under mentioned emergency
relief work.
1.
Person
to person meetings with victims to ascertain their needs.
2.
First
aid and attending to health care, initially by the organisation
on its own and, thereafter, in co-ordination with Government medical
authorities of the area and the Sri Lankan Red Cross society. Where the
Government supply of medicines was insufficient, the organization took upon
itself the responsibility to purchase such medicines and distribute them. As the
medicines were in short supply also expensive in
3.
Counselling of victims who are psychologically
affected in particular those unfortunate persons who have lost their immediate
family members and suffered other traumatic experiences.
4.
Distribution
of essential relief items such as drinking water food, dry rations, clothing
and beddings. During distribution it was observed that a number of camps in the
interior places carried short supplies of some essential items, even items such
as infants’ milk powder, women’s inner apparels, children’s garments and men’s
underwear. OfERR workers brought this to the notice of the government
authorities and caused the excess stocks where available to be distributed in these centers and
where necessary, purchased the items themselves and distributed the same.
5.
Clearing
the places of
habitation of the victims, that were devastated by the Tsunami waves. This
included removing the debris and draining off the stagnant water, cleaning of walls and
toilets.
6.
Meeting
with and obtaining the assistance of Government and Local Authorities such as
the Government Agents (Divisional Secretaries) the public Health Officials, Grama Sevakas, and other
Government Officials and the Urban Council of Trincomalee.
These Officials have greatly assisted the organization, eg.
the Urban Council of Tricomalee
provided the necessary vehicles for the
removal of debris.
7.
Collection
of data regarding:
a)
Dwelling
places totally destroyed:
b)
Dwelling
places partially damaged/destroyed; and
c)
Children
whose education has been affected and their needs including books, school
uniforms and other educational items.
Whilst providing the above services OfERR (CEYLON)
began to identity the problems faced by those affected and how they could be
resettled. One of the concerns of OfERR (CEYLON) was the disinclination of
those who were accommodated in the school buildings as continuous stay in the
school buildings were thwarting the
efforts of school authorities to resume school sessions. OfERR has over the
years has laid great emphasis on the process. Therefore OfERR (CEYLON) took the
lead effort to ensure that the people accommodated in the schools are sent to
temporary accommodations to enable the school to function again as early as possible Education
became one of the strategies through which OfERR proposed to bring about a
semblance of normalcy in the lives of
the affected students and their parents. OfERR utilised
the school holidays to visit parents and collect data and statistics. This
enabled OfERR (CEYLON) to make arrangements to purchase and distribute note
books and uniforms. Out of 31 schools classified by the zonal authorities as
those on the role having the most affected students, OfERR (CEYLON) was
allocated 20 schools to provide assistance. In addition to the 20 schools OfERR
(CEYLON) also distributed assistance to 13 other schools identified by the Task
Force Committee. These schools have children from very poor families most of
whom are IDPs. Nearly 2800 students have benefited
through the above services. OfERR is also monitoring the progress of the
students. OfERR has taken the initiative in making 13 schools “child friendly”
schools in the Trincomalee District.
First Aid, Health and Nutrition were the other
important services OfERR (CEYLON) is providing to the victims of the Tsunami.
Through the health work volunteers who had already been trained by OfERR in
Milk powder was provided to the children in the
affected areas. This was undertaken as an initial measure to provide food
supplement to the children. The children were badly affected due to the apathetic
conditions the parents had been driven to by the losses sustained. Since such
parents were not able to cook and neither the food items
reached on time, the children were left hungry for long periods of time.
Thus the milk supply came in as a valuable interim measure till the food came
to their larder. Nutrition supplement for pregnant women and lactating mothers
was yet another activity OfERR (CEYLON) was able to undertaken in the Tsunami
affected areas. This was important in view of the fact that the women in the
welfare centres were not able to access proper food
for their daily diet.
Restoration of livelihood for the fishermen and
others affected has also been a priority in OfERR (CEYLON) activities.
Fishermen who were reluctant to get back to their fishing livelihood were
motivated and counselled to resume fishing activities. Fishermen whose
boats required minor repairs were helped by OfERR (CEYLON). Others who needed
expensive repairs were referred to NGOs that were equipped for such services.
The proactive involvement of OfERR (CEYLON) at
grassroots level has been greatly appreciated and accepted by those among whom
the services are being rendered. OfERR volunteers spend a fair amount of time
and energy with each family. Thus the beneficiaries feel that they themselves
are part and parcel of the process by which the community is resuscitated and
rehabilitated.
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