New Year brings new homes to families in Sri Lanka

Members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement helped to start the New Year on a good note by providing a group of tsunami survivors with newly built, furnished homes.

For people around the globe, each new year is an opportunity for a fresh start and a chance to leave behind the worries of the previous year. This was especially true for a group of people living in the village of Peraliya in southern Sri Lanka. Members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement helped to start the New Year on a good note by providing a group of tsunami survivors with newly built, furnished homes.

The town of Peraliya is one of the communities hardest hit by the tsunami that swept across the coast of Sri Lanka in December 2004. More than 2,000 people were killed in this small fishing village, which is located north of Galle in the southern district of Sri Lanka. Half of them were passengers on a train that washed off the tracks and was swept two kilometers inland by the sheer force of the water.

Like many of his fellow villagers, Mr. Jinasena, 67, lost several family members to the giant waves. Mr. Jinasena had been a fisherman until he suffered a heart attack in 2000 and was forced to retire. He kept busy teaching his four sons the finer points of fishing. When the tsunami struck, his wife, Dayawathi, and his eldest son, Roshan, were both killed and their bodies were never found. He also lost his home, furniture, boats and personal items. With so much destruction, Jinasena had no means to rebuild.

After the tsunami, Jinasena spent several months living in a tent before moving into a 100-square-foot wooden temporary shelter with his three surviving sons, a daughter in-law and his four-month-old grandson. When he was handed keys to a brand new house, Jinasena said he felt like he had won the lottery.

"I asked so many aid agencies to build us a home but didn't get one, even when others around us were getting them, so this is unbelievable," said Jinasena. "Compared to other houses in the community, this house is built very well."

After months of feeling despondent, he says that he now has hope for the future and looks forward to teaching his grandson how to fish.

Through this project, several Red Cross national societies are working together to provide shelter and other basic household necessities. For example, the Spanish Red Cross is constructing the 550-square-foot homes, while the American and Canadian Red Cross societies are supplying basic necessities such as bedroom furniture, living and dining room sets and kitchen kits. On average, it costs around $9,000 to build and furnish each house.

With the success of the pilot project, Gianni Bicego, a water and sanitation delegate with the American Red Cross, says that the partners are currently planning how to expand the initiative.

"The Red Cross Movement has pledged to construct 15,000 houses in Sri Lanka. The American and Canadian Red Cross are determining the best method to provide essential household furnishings for each home," said Bicego.

Next door to Jinasena, Mrs. Rupawathi, 46, was all smiles as she and her children cleaned their new house. Rupawathi's husband, Upali, 50, badly injured his right leg during the tsunami and was unable to return to fishing. For the last year, Rapawathi supported her family by making cakes for weddings and community celebrations, for which she earns about $30 a month. With her new home, Rupawathi is hoping to start up a small grain grinding mill in her kitchen to supplement her income.

"Many aid agencies are building homes but the tsunami survivors lost everything, not just the roof over their head," said Randy Ackley, senior regional representative of the American Red Cross. "By working with our partners in the Movement, we are able to reach into local communities and, together, strive to provide the basic necessities of those recovering from this disaster."

As Rupawathi washed her new dining room set and her son wiped down the living room furniture, they laughed and chatted back and forth. For families like hers, these new homes mean more than just more comfortable living quarters.

"The new house will provide protection to the family," said Rupawathi. "The temporary shelters weren't adequate during the rainy season. My three children were always getting sick with cold and fever because of dampness. Now we have a clean dry house to live in. I am very happy."