Lanka Relief

Seven years ago today, on Boxing Day 2004, a giant tsunami caused unprecedented devastation across parts of coastal South East Asia. Shortly afterwards I flew to Sri Lanka with the hope that I could offer some sort of assistance, at the very least be of slightly more benefit than hindrance. On a reflective Boxing Day… [more]

Here I sit on my penultimate morning in this country I have made my home in some form or other over the past three months, with mixed feelings about my looming departure. I am looking forward to heading home, but part of me longs to stay, to continue to share further in the slow process… [more]

So goes the song pumping out from the bar/restaurant behind where I lie on my sun lounge, toes burrowing into the soft sand as I gaze lazily across the turquoise blue bay. Yeah, life can be hard sometimes… Being based on the south west coast – Sri Lanka’s tourism central – for these last few… [more]

Ealier today saw the quintessential, “Oh honey, let’s go hand out some goodies to the poor refugees so we can feel better about ourselves” group at the Buddhist temple where we’re currently building a toilet block. A group of 4 or 5 very German looking people, in a 3,000 rupee per day rental van (we’re… [more]

So, how do either sides of the country compare, I hear you ask. Good question. The east, as you would imagine, had far greater devastation over a much larger area, as it did get hit directly with the oncoming tsunami. Basically every part of the coast was hit, and depending on the height of the… [more]

After two months spent in a small, remote village on the east coast, I have now hit tourist central on the west coast south of Colombo. And the first result of this? My worst hangover in living memory! Ugh!! I’m not sure if it was the fact that I had not been drunk in two… [more]

No, I’m not about to break out into song while running down the nearest mountain, however I am leaving Kallar… this afternoon at that! Yep, time has come to move onto another area where some more immediate help is required. The projects now taking place in Kallar are more of the long term kind, and… [more]

Rightly or wrongly, even in a small village like Kallar, much of the colour surrounding us daily is via advertising, though there are also a couple of interesting murals and street graf… ;o)

Well, all good things must come to an end, so Monday morning with a slight hangover and it was back on the road “home” (yeak, thinking of the Kallar YMCA as home?! Now that’s scary!). This was a fairly nondescript ride back, apart from a slight detour to check out the IDP camp I had… [more]

So, Aragum Bay. After my 5 hour ride down, I was hanging out to see what all the hype was about. Sri Lanka’s “newest party spot”, one of the “top ten surf sites in the world”… these were just two of the descriptions I had read or heard to describe the place, so even with… [more]

So I did… for the Easter weekend. Yep, decided that while you guys were involved in all things eggy and chocolaty, I’d rent a motorbike and head down south for a few days to Aragum Bay. Yep, Davy boy on a motorbike! Watch out Sri Lanka! (Unfortunately, photo-wise you’ll have to be waiting for the… [more]

…or accept it as simply one of those things that happens in a disaster relief situation, even though it really could – and should – have been avoided? Anyway, to fill you in… Yesterday we had a visit to the YMCA from a representative of the government department TAP (Temporary Accommodation Program, I think…), set… [more]

Well, as I’m sure you’re all well aware by now, the tsunami alert that flashed through our village (and across the whole of Sri Lanka from what was coming across the local airwaves) was in fact a false alarm. While that is of course a very fortunate thing – though not so fortunate for the… [more]

Woken from a VERY deep sleep (took them 20 minutes to wake me apparantly) by one of the other volunteers pounding on my door to tell me everyone was panicking due to another earthquake near Sumatra. Now busily trying to get the news online, by phone, and any other possible means, to see if there’s… [more]

The main Hindu temple in town, though damaged by the tsunami, still has some amazing characters and colour within its structure. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity can all be found in Sri Lanka, and the mutual respect shown between the followers of all of the religions could perhaps act as a great example for other… [more]

Heard last night from Father John, the priest for the local Catholic church, that the LTT are pulling out of the 3-year cease fire between them and the government. Apparently in part due to the government being very slow with any deals or compromises, while in Jaffna the government forces are still occupying public buildings… [more]

Just looked back over my previous musings, and noticed that they seem to have got a little bit less “exciting” than my earlier posts. I guess it’s due to the fact that the work I’m doing now is more of the “long haul” kind, the type of work that does involve such exciting stuff as… [more]

So, roughly half way through my time here, and I was lying back in the hammock in the YMCA courtyard tonight, nursing a cold beer after returning from dinner with the family of one of our local shelter foremen, and mulling over what I’ve seen and learnt over the past month and a half. And… [more]

Apart from our actual physical relief work, another very important part of our time here is interacting with the kids, whether that be informally as we walk through the village, or through various activities we implement. Football in the park, with the football goals the volunteers have constructed for the kids… Volleyball too… …and perhaps… [more]

…while others remain the same… Have actually had a reasonably successful week of dealing with the local government bureaucracy with regards to the shelters. And believe me, being able to say that with any amount of substance is cause for a minor celebration in itself. After having the ADS (Assistant District Secretary) tell us 2… [more]

…and 2 months since the tsunami hit, and it’s kind of an interesting feeling I have arriving back in Kallar from 5 days in Colombo. Overall, the relief & development senimar was not really worth the time taken to travel back to Colombo and attend. It really was about basic project management, about including the… [more]

Jonny from Norway, and Alon from Israel (down the well) helping with the well cleaning while I was over in Colombo attending a relief & development seminar.

We had the good fortune of a visit from 5 Northern Irish lads from a little town called Ballynahinch, who brought a great deal of energy, commitment and laughter to our neck of the woods for an unfortunately too short a time. As a bit of a final night thankyou along with our bonfire on… [more]

…is still a tree, though in the case of the trees that have washed up on the Kallar beach recently, not as we know it. According to the locals, these trees are like nothing found in Sri Lanka, and are believed to have washed up here all the way from Indonesia. More likely is that… [more]

Most of the areas provided for the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps are pretty bleak and desolate. We will be doing our best to make them as comfortable as possible with whatever ideas we can come up with (and feel free to post any and all ideas you might have!), but it is a reason… [more]

Our home at the “Y”… Room with a view… (though locked when we’re out, a few things have gone walkies over the weeks). Justin from Canada playing a few tunes on our deck… …and Dave from Australia relaxing with a couple of mates. Some of the hundreds of bottles fresh water we have for the… [more]

Well, seems like even working in a disaster relief effort there is still late night office work to be done… I have just finished drawing up about the forth or fifth draft of the layouts for the three shelter camps in Kallar, for where each of 250 shelters along with toilets, washing facilities and access… [more]

Actually, this French team (AUI) are an amazing story in themselves: 4 engineers in this area with no equipment (all the larger NGOs are concentrating in the larger population areas) apart from a couple of sledgehammers, a rope and a ladder made from wooden debris, who walk around looking for dangerous structures that need to… [more]

Five days since my first glimpse of the devastation first-hand, I have found out just how valuable one person can be. My role is to take over the water filtration and sanitation for the local community from another Aussie guy, Karl, who is leaving in 2 days, and who was also as unknowledgeable about this… [more]

Arrived 5 days ago in Kallar, a small community on the east coast of Sri Lanka. Nearing our destination, we travelled along a road running parallel to the coast, about a kilometre or so in from the sea, thronging with people and traffic, buildings packed along both sides. There was little evidence to suggest what… [more]

Well, three days and no news from that organisation I had arranged my entire placement with, so… am currently in the offices of the YMCA, waiting to undergo a day’s training before heading out with them over to the east coast. Yep, I’m gonna be working for the YMCA!! Everybody… “Y… M… C… A…” They’re… [more]

Well, less than 24 hours on the ground over here, and I’m already getting a sense of the chaos that the relief efforts all over Sri Lanka are. Met a few people at the guest house I’m at, who have been both across to the east coast, as well as down south towards Galle and… [more]

The following images are provided by Joel and Bec, an American couple who were working for the YMCA in Colombo when the tsunami hit. They were amongst the first foreign volunteers to head over to the east coast.