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| Sunday, 9 January 2005 |
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Personifying altruism Raising hope and strengthening the morale of the tsunami affected people are the immediate tasks of volunteers working round-the-clock all over the country. Our staffers P. MUTTIAH and NISANSALA ARYACHANDRA spoke to several volunteer organisations, of their mission, at this critical juncture.
SLRCS and ICRC are co-ordinating relief work through their network of branch organisations in the country. Chairman of the Red Cross, Jaffna branch, Dr. Thiyagarajah said medical teams had been formed in 32 camps in the District, with Mobile clinics in Point Pedro and Chavakachcheri. He said that plans are under way to reduce the number of camps to 17 to facilitate the opening of schools, and to run the centres in an organised manner. He said Medical Aid and Information Centres had been opened to collect and disseminate details of those who perished and who are displaced. He further said that food and essential items were in urgent need. People in the camps were provided with relief items other than food. More than hundred volunteers were involved in these massive efforts of providing relief. Chairman, Ampara SLRCS, Sunil Dissanayake, and Branch Executive Officer, M. Jeyamohan, said there were 125 camps in the district, housing more than 183,000 displaced. They added that more than 10,000 were still missing and that more than 19,000 houses had been destroyed in Ampara. More than 6,500 packets of non-food relief items had been distributed to the displaced. Medical personnel from Finland, with the assistance of the Government Agent are in the process of establishing a 50-bed mobile hospital with a doctor and five nurses in the coastal area to treat the affected. They had surveyed the area from Pottuvil. The SLRCS official said that a German team was in Ampara to assess the water treatment efforts. R. Manivannan, another volunteer from Trincomalee, said they had deployed three mobile clinics to the area. More than 14,000 litres of water had been supplied. Nearly 850 persons had been resettled and 12 wells had been cleared in the resettlement areas. T. Vasantharajah, an ICRC officer in Batticaloa, said 25,000 displaced persons were housed in 94 centres in the district. He said that the most precious function was to provide immediate relief assistance and trace the missing persons. Tracing of missing persons had already begun in Madurankerny in the Batticaloa district. The displaced had been unable to be resettled, as water-logging in low-lying areas and the heavy rains hampered the process. A delegation from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies visited the area on Monday to draft a plan of resettlement. More than 10,000 people had been provided medical assistance in the area. An ICRC official, Sukumar Rockwood, in Colombo said that they were mostly concentrating in the Northeast, as they had established offices in that region. Twenty thousand family kits had been sent to the Jaffna district and another 10,000 would be sent in the coming days. Children from international schools had also been working voluntarily with ICRC since December 26. He added that ICRC was not involved in the reconstruction efforts. Meanwhile, Sarvodaya, has decided to provide shelter to orphans and girls below 19 years. They will be housed in 26 orphanages and 326 regional centres run by Sarvodaya. Each centre will house up to 100 infants, children and young women. Sarvodaya has also drawn up a plan to build permanent housing and school facilities. Harsha Gunawardene, Communication Officer, SLRCS, said they have started distributing non-food items in Galle. He added that they had no resources to provide reconstruction facilities and said the Red Cross was especially, involved in providing medical assistance.He said his organisation was co-ordinating with the International Red Cross through satellite communication in tracing the missing. Already 3,000 kits containing 12,500 items, such as blankets and plastic pots had been sent to Mullaitivu.More than 200 volunteers are engaged in providing first aid services in Hambantota, Galle and Matara districts. SLRC has sent 26 volunteer doctors to Hambantota, Matara, Galle, Kalutara, Trincomalee and Gampaha with medical supplies to support those displaced living in welfare centres. India has provided more than 5,250-kilos of medicines, about 215 tons of relief supplies and 50 generator sets. They were supplied by Indian Naval ships and aircraft, Dornier, Sukanya, Sandayak, Sutlej and Sharda, Islander which docked in various ports and Indian Air force helicopters, INS Aditiya, INS Ghorpad, CGS Samar. It has also deployed one medical officer and two medical assistants and one hygiene and sanitation specialist at the Hambantota hospital and Embilipitiya. Indian naval ships operated two medical camps in Galle and treated more than 300 patients. Two medical officers and medical assistants are still serving in Kinniya. The Indian army field ambulance has been deployed in Embilipitiya and is providing medical assistance to various refugee camps in Hambantota. Six medical Officers and twelve medical assistants from INS Aditya, have been deployed in the Batticaloa area serving displaced people. Six Indian Air force helicopters are performing ferry duties within Sri Lanka, carrying provisions, medicines and drinking water to remote areas and bringing back stranded persons to safety. Chinese medical teams are functioning in Embilipitiya, Galle and Hambantota areas. The United States has decided to send 1,000 marines with a ship and 20 helicopters. More than 200 marines have already arrived in Sri Lanka and made relief assessment in Galle, Matara and Trincomalee. It has also provided assistance under the international Aid Programme. The USAID Diaster Response Assessment Team are also in the South, co-ordinating relief measures. Diviav Vivan Tan, Public Information Officer, UNHCR, said that her organisation was currently involved in providing relief assistance to the affected. It would take some time to provide other assistance such as housing and other infrastructure facilities to the affected. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS), International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) and Sarvodaya are some of the volunteer organisations that
are actively involved in saving lives, caring for the sick, feeding the
hungry and re-building hope in many of the tsunami devastated areas along
the coastal belt from Jaffna to Hambantota.
