MATARA, SRI LANKA - Freshly painted boats dot the shoreline alongside the Galle Road, traveling south from Columbo, evidence of lives being re-built. It's March and that means the hot season here. Fishermen take shelter from the afternoon sun under trees, muttering to each other as they mend damaged fishing nets. Life is slowly returning to something approaching normal.
The natural beauty of Sri Lanka's seashores |
Unlike two months ago when a devastating surge of water ground life to a halt here, the buzz of activity is evident again. People are reclaiming their lives, and hundreds of local World Vision staff members are working round the clock to help them.
Building Homes
Jayaweera Kohombange, a worker with World Vision Sri Lanka, lost 17 family members to the tsunami. Despite his own loss and grief, he has been on the scene since December 27, helping out wherever he can.
His face brightens and his arms move in grand, sweeping gestures as he describes re-building the area.
"We are going to build new houses here," he says, pointing to an area where more than 200 temporary wooden shelters have been built. "People have already begun moving in and will continue moving in as we complete these. But we have already begun planning for the construction of permanent brick homes to replace the ones that were destroyed. We will build 2,000 new houses in this place alone."
Child-Friendly Spaces
The air in Matara is filled with the sounds of workers yelling to each other, the roar of the diesel-engine dump trucks hauling debris from the side of the road, and even children's laughter.
Children can be seen running and playing again. Many spend hours each day, in large tents erected by World Vision, painting, playing games, and singing songs together, as World Vision staff play and sing along with them.These are child-friendly spaces and they serve as a refuge for children who have few other places to go amidst the rubble, glass and other debris that still litters the area.
Knowing their children are looked after, parents take the opportunity to repair fishing nets and fix boats with aid from World Vision.
"These men and women just want to make a living again," Jayaweera says. "They do not want to be dependent on us, but right now they have nothing. The men want to get back onto the water and start fishing again. Even though many of them are afraid to return to the ocean now."
Supply Distribution
World Vision staff distribute supplies in Matara, Sri Lanka |
So complete was the tsunami's devastation that many people are still without basic cooking utensils and other household items such as mosquito nets. At a World Vision distribution point further down the coast, hundreds of people form orderly queues to receive much-needed supplies. World Vision staff members smile and comfort the recipients as they pass out mosquito nets, sleeping mats, cooking utensils, and other household items.
Having received the distribution items, many stop to shake Jayaweera's hand.
"These people know us, they trust us," he says. "We have been working in this area for years. Now we will help them re-build. We will be here for many years still."
An older woman stops to shake Jayaweera's hand. Her face expresses pain, but there is dignity, too. She refuses to look down and instead looks directly into Jayweera's eyes. "Thank you," she says, and then rushes off down the road with her supplies tucked tightly under her arm.
