Tsunami: 5 Years After

Plan Sri Lanka received $20.4 million in tsunami funding, which went toward building homes and relocating hundreds of families. We offered children an outlet to work through their problems and to grieve through the Happy/Sad Letterbox programme, while helping to make their home lives more secure by offering livelihood support for their parents and other tsunami survivors. The Children of the Sea theatre project, which included 22 survivors among its cast, was featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured through temporary camps for people displaced by the tsunami. The production helped them to heal and taught them to express themselves through the arts.

Beneficiaries

• approximately 450,000 people

Water and sanitation

• 100 water tanks provided to temporary camps

Housing and community development

• 200 families given homes in Yayawatta post-tsunami settlement project
• Plan provided technical and financial assistance to 374 families to build their own homes

Psychosocial support and child protection

• 11,878 students and 2,882 adults learned about child protection in school-based awareness raising program
• Plan supported “Happy Day” activities for 20,582 students to raise spirits and to have fun
• Happy/Sad Letterbox program established at 75 schools
• 275 teachers trained on basic counselling
• 2,454 individuals learned about child protection through community-based awareness raising
• 12 district child development committees received training on child abuse prevention
• 387 police personnel trained on child abuse laws, reporting procedures, and child protection
• 20,000 birth certificates issued to replace legal documents lost in the tsunami, enabling them to claim health care, education and their full rights as legal citizens
• 5 registrar offices supported for pilot project to computerize birth, marriage and death certificates

Childcare and education

• 1 school constructed with capacity for 3,000 students
• 14 schools damaged by the tsunami rehabilitated
• 18 school media clubs established
• lessons broadcast by radio for students affected by tsunami, in Sinhala and Tamil from two locations, reaching districts in the north and south of the country

Early childhood care and development

• 2,500 early childhood care and development resource sets developed by Plan and distributed to preschools
• 575 preschools supplied with learning materials, water filters and first aid boxes
• 243 preschools received support to establish play corners
• 860 preschool teachers trained on importance of arts and creativity in early childhood development learning
• 438 preschool teachers received diploma course training
• 90 preschool teachers, early childhood care and development officers and government officials trained on child development (3-5 years)

Health

• 2 health centres constructed, 30 others provided with equipment, and 8 school dental units equipped with medical supplies or specialized equipment
• 1,634 village volunteers given first aid training
• 225 midwives trained on breast feeding and healthy food preparation for children
• 228 village volunteers trained on home gardening
• 151 primary health care service providers receive communication training
• 31,031 students in 196 schools took part in dental screening program
• 589 preschool teachers trained on children’s oral health
• 566 preschool teachers trained in first aid

Livelihood

• approximately 10,000 individuals provided with credit through 20 fishery cooperatives and other microfinance organisations
• 1,547 individuals given three-month vocational training in a variety of trades; 76 per cent of trainees were placed for jobs
• 1,048 young people given four-week vocational training in masonry, carpentry, plumbing and electrical wiring
• 1,000 carpenters and masons supplied with tool kits to return to work
• 564 individuals received advanced vocational training in carpentry, plumbing and electrical wiring, and mechanics of industrial sewing machine repair/maintenance
• loans and grants provided to 266 individuals and 1 organisation to help defer or extend loans to individuals affected by the tsunami

Disaster management

• worked with district government to prepare 5-year disaster preparedness plans
• established early warning systems in landslide-prone areas for 822 families
• constructed an electric fence protecting 740 families from elephants encroaching on their property
• constructed 2 small irrigation dams in a drought-stricken area, benefiting more than 150 farmers
• constructed rainwater tanks for small-scale farming in drought-prone areas
• supported disaster prevention and mitigation awareness programme for children from 11 schools