Sri Lanka, May 2009

More than 200,000 people in Sri Lanka are living in several government camp sites after being displaced by the government’s military offensive against separatists in northern Sri Lanka this spring, 2009. They escaped, leaving everything behind. But their safety came at a price: no clean water, no toilets, inadequate food and medical care, and no employment opportunities.  They have become internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Outreach International had been supporting a collaborative program in a nearby area, so when this request came for assistance, donors responded generously, helping sustain over 1,000 victims of war with clean water and supplies to address children’s needs. But consistent support to these families is crucial in order for them to make their way out of poverty. Dr. Dennis Labayen, Director of Field Operations, reports, “The program coordinator, Harishke, and his team have made contact with over 1,000 internally displaced persons in a camp near our program areas in Sri Lanka.”

The most urgent need being met is for clean water, so a deep well has been constructed to ensure families don’t drink unsafe salt water, and the community is working on obtaining another.

“There are many other needs as well,” Harishke reports. “The refugees lost everything in fleeing, and women and children are the most affected. They need shelter such as tents and mosquito netting; sanitation such as toilets, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap and water filters; food—bags of rice, and milk powder for children; medicines; even clothing.”

“My greatest concern,” Harishke says, “is not just how we can provide immediate relief for this crisis, but how we are going to sustain this effort. How we can help these people re-establish their lives? It’s very important that we don’t disappear once we dig the wells.”

With your help, we are responding to this acute situation by providing immediate relief – to women and children in particular. Initial funds collected were used to sink a well and attend to the children’s needs with the active participation of children using the participatory human development process (PHDP). Displaced people are coming together to identify and discuss other problems as well, including the worn-out roofs where they are living in the camp. Children are encouraged and facilitated to have a voice in their future as well, in hopes that sustainable good will become a reality for all the families in the area that were displaced by war.