A picture tour of our final days
The Child & Youth Center in Hambantota. Over 300 children drop in for help with school work, instruction, sports, socializing and computer use.
The Child Center had no books, so we purchased 118 of them, started a 2 year subscription to 9 weekly periodicals for teaching and reading purposes, and donated school supplies.
Sorting out supplies based on grade level.
Sadna and Rodney (pictured left, Rodney was our driver throughout the trip and quickly became an important part of our small team) with some of the children and staff at the Child & Youth Center.
We got a tip from Sarvodaya, a local NGO, on a number of tsunami effected families that lived inland from the coast and had been given little more than clean water. The ‘inland’ story was heard many times as most foreign aid went to people that could remain along the coastal highway.
Traveling further inland, we came upon the government’s much publicized housing project. Aside from refugees being moved to the scrub brush far from a job along the coastline, it appears these houses were built on a flood plain and within wild elephant territory - In fact, we were advised to not be on the main road after 3pm when the ‘wild elephant run’ takes place each week. From what we saw in a month of traveling, this was the only permanent housing project funded by the millions in aid money sent directly to Sri Lanka’s government.
After checking our family list given by Sarvodaya with a principle who knew local families and children, we were able to locate the homes most in need of assistance.
Along with donating immediate financial aid, school supplies, and clothing to the families we visited inland, we setup 21 bank accounts for children who lost one or both parents in the tsunami. The accounts can only be accessed by the child once they have reached 18 years of age.
Most of these families had lost a mother to the tsunami. Sunday is typically when women of the household purchase food and house supplies from the coastal market. Unfortunately, this was the same morning the tsunami hit. In many cases this left surviving fathers to assume all household duties while taking care of his children and working to bring in an income, if work could be found.
Financial assistance was given to three orphans at this house for immediate concerns including school and medical expenses.
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