UPDATE, February 8, 2011:
The people of Sri Lanka still need your help. The districts of Anuradhapura, Amparai, Batticaloa, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee are inundated with floodwater for the second time this year. As of February 3, 2011, 254 mm of rain pounded the area in 48 hours, disrupting ongoing relief efforts and re-flooding villages where displaced people had begun to return to their homes. The rains have also triggered terrible landslides in the hill-country of central Sri Lanka. Over 1.2 million people -- 1 in 20 Sri Lankans -- are affected by the floods of January and February 2011.
We encourage our friends to give generously to those in need. We also look to the government of Sri Lanka to demonstrate strong leadership and a commitment to reconciliation by moving swiftly to support its citizens in this time of crisis.
This month, torrential rains flooded several regions of Sri Lanka. In response to this humanitarian crisis, Lanka Solidarity seeks donations to support efforts to resettle and assist impoverished communites displaced by the floods. In a country of 21 million, over one million people have been affected by the floods. The Eastern Province was hit especially hard. According to reports, after 7 inches of rain per day for 2 weeks straight, 75% of Batticaloa is currently under water, where over 50,000 people live in flood-relief camps as of January 17, 2011. An additional 25,755 are in camps in Amparai. It is expected that the rains will continue until the end of monsoon season in February.
In total, the floods covered 11 of the country's 25 districts, flooding homes, causing landslides, ruining crops, damaging dams and wells and killing livestock. In addition to rebuilding housing and infrastructure, Sri Lanka faces the challenge of ensuring food security for its people, as the floods destroyed an estimated 125,000 acres of rice paddy, the country’s staple crop.
As flood waters recede and people slowly return to their homes, they need basic supplies such as rice, flour, stoves, and water purifiers. These floods are especially devastating to an impoverished region that is still rebuilding after decades of a brutal war and the 2004 tsunami. Lanka Solidarity has compiled a list in support of grassroots organizations that are established among local communities and doing flood relief work. We will add to this list as we acquire more information. If you work with a Sri Lankan organization doing flood relief and would like to be considered for this list, please email us at contact@lankasolidarity.org.
The following organizations need your support:
ABDF
ABDF is a locally-based organization in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka that raises funds for small-scale projects requested by communities such as a school playgrounds, water tanks, livelihood generation, and educational activities. For the floods, ABDF is mobilizing its volunteers to provide assistance to families rebuilding their lives. This small organization doesn’t have any full time staff, so 100% of donations will be directed at victims of the flood. For more information or to donate (tax deductible), visit http://www.abdf.org/2011/01/an-emergency-appeal/#more-3085.
The Church of the American Ceylon Mission (CACM)
CACM provides small-scale social services and humanitarian relief to war-affected and marginalized rural communities. Its primary focus is on the needs of children, youth and women. CACM has worked diligently over the last few years to address local needs through activities such as vocational training and child care centers. Due to the floods, CACM is raising funds to provide clothes, food, dry rations, basic supplies, water pumps and fuel for 1,000 families amounting to a total of $58,500 or $56 per family. For more information about CACM and its social work, visit http://cacmission.org and read their appeal and budget here. To confirm receipt of your donation, please contact Darshan Ambalavanar, Projects Manager, at cacmprojects@gmail.com and copy your message to cacmission@gmail.com.
Budget for Flood Relief for CACM
1. Package per family Rs.6,235 x 1,000 families Rs.6,235,000 [USD 56,268]
2. Transport Rs.150,000 [USD 1,354]
3. Well Cleaning Rs.100,000 [USD 900]
Total Rs. 6,485,000 [USD 58,524]
Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust
The Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust (http://www.neelan.org) is a Sri Lankan grant-making organisation working with grassroots organisations throughout the island to bring about social change. Established in 2001, NTT supports those working towards and advocating for peace, reconciliation, justice and human rights. Donations you make will be channeled through the trust's partners in flood-affected districts, to serve the most underserved communities. Please visit their website and click on "Donate Now" (pdf) to receive more information about how you can donate.
Sewalanka
Sewalanka Foundation is a Sri Lankan development organization that enhances the capacity of disadvantaged rural communities to identify and address their own development needs. Through their own professionals and links with other service providers, they coordinate training and support services that contribute to the economically viable, socially just and ecologically sustainable development of Sri Lanka. Sewalanka plans to support 40,000 flood-affected individuals in the districts of Amparai, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa. For more information and to donate, please visit
Some ways your donation will make a difference:
Rs. 1,000 (~9 USD) provides a family with clean drinking water for a week
Rs. 3,000 (~27 USD) provides a family with a week’s supply of dry rations (rice, dhal, sugar, cooking oil, tin fish, coconut milk powder)
Rs. 1,300 (~12 USD) provides children under the age of five with milk for two weeks.
Rs. 1,650 (~15 USD) provides a family with a sanitary kit (two soap bars, one large toothpaste, five toothbrush, two sanitary napkin packets, ten shampoo sachets, two laundry soap bars, five towels, one large bucket) for two weeks.
Rs. 2,500 (~23 USD) provides a family with basic kitchen utensils (two saucepans, two cooking pots, two cooking spoons, five plates, five cups, knife, jug).
Add comment