Galway Advertiser 2005/2005_03_17/GA_1703_E1_015.pdf 

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March 17 2005

Galway Advertiser

N E W S 15

Galway trio tell of work done on Sri Lanka tsunami relief
BY UNA SINNOTT Three Galway men who travelled to Sri Lanka to help with the relief effort following the December tsunami have returned with good news on what fundraising in Galway has achieved for the residents of several Sri Lankan villages. Ariyadasa BKG, Noel Coughlan, and Vincent Commons have spent the last two months repairing and building homes, schools, and sanitary facilities, and providing support for the many relief groups now operating in the country. Of more than 126,000 raised by the three in Galway so far, a total of 86,750 has been spent on semipermanent homes, schools, water pumps, toilets, bicycles, foodstuff, and vital supplies to help local tradesmen return to work. A further 68,000 has been raised in donated medicines and medical equipment. The remaining 39,250 has been earmarked for ongoing building work and will be spent in the next few weeks in the eastern provinces of Ampara and Batticaloa, the areas worst hit by the tsunami where they have thus far concentrated their relief efforts. So far, the group have provided 48 semi-permanent homes for families in the eastern townland of Karativu. These include homes for people from the village of Kannagiram, which was completely destroyed in the tsunami. The village was located within the new 100 metre no-build zone, and villagers cannot therefore return to the original site of their homes. Between 75,000 and 100,000 people in the district were displaced by the tsunami. Work is now under way on eight more homes for families in the region. A new afterschool facility, and more than 7,000 worth of bikes for fishermen and schoolchildren have been provided using money raised in Galway. The bikes will help fishermen who travel between villages selling fish to return to work, while many children now need bikes to travel to school after their local schools were destroyed. Work is also under way on 18 shelters for families in the nearby Akkraipattu region, along with repair works on the many houses in the area which were damaged in the disaster. The group has so far spent a total of 18,000 on building materials, food supplies, bikes, and relief items in the Akkraipattu area. Aside from providing material relief in the form of buildings, food, and vital equipment, Mr Coughlan, a counselling psychologist, has been training local counsellors for the lengthy work of helping people come to terms with the aftermath of December's tragedy. He estimates it will take at least six months for the enormity of the event to sink in. "We arrived two weeks after the tsunami and people were numb," he said. "There are only about 15 or 20 counsellors and only three psychologists in the whole country, and just one psychiatrist for the east coast. I realised there were very important ways I could relate to the local services in terms of training and support." Mr Coughlan previously spent three years in Sri Lanka on a rehabilitation programme after the lengthy civil war, and returns annually to provide further training and supervision as part of the ongoing efforts there. He has provided a number of courses for hospital and youth workers, teachers, and councillors since the tsunami. The three men hope to return to Sri Lanka later this year to begin work on constructing permanent homes for some of the thousands of families affected by the tsunami. The extent of future work in the area will depend on further donations from the public, and donations to the Desert Voice project are still being accepted. People can help the group's future work in Sri Lanka by donating to the Desert Voice bank account, Allied Irish Bank, sort code 90 40 42, account number 18943963, or by dropping donations into the Lanka Dhama fair trade shop in Upper Dominick Street.