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Tsunami Relief Programme - Update - Sri Lanka

Issue date

Update

Tsunami Relief Programme

Sri Lanka

TUC Aid expresses its gratitude to all those who contributed generously to the Tsunami Appeal in 2005. A total of £320,000 was raised through the Appeal. We are pleased to let you know that, thanks to your generous support, we are helping thousands of people affected by Tsunami waves to rebuild their lives in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The proceeds of the Appeal are used to fund four projects aimed at long-term rehabilitation of those affected by the disaster. In addition, TUC Aid donated £25,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeal in January 2005. It also made a contribution towards the cost of a conference organised by Tourism Concern on the post-Tsunami reconstruction and tourism in the countries concerned. The details of project activities are in Sri Lanka found below.

Sri Lanka

Project Name: Trade Union Assistance for Long-term Rehabilitation of Tsunami Victims in Sri Lanka

Implementing Agency: American Center for International Solidarity

Delivery Organisation: ACILS Office, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Project Duration: One year

Goal

The Project aims at facilitating long-term rehabilitation of victims and enhancing their prospects of sustainable livelihoods and of strengthening trade unions' capacity to assist their members in their efforts to come to terms with the difficulties caused by the disaster.

Project Objectives

  • Provision of training in skills for trade union members and their family members who lost their livelihoods, enabling them to find gainful employment.
  • Improvement of prospects for long-term rehabilitation of trade union members and their families
  • Improvement in services provided by trade unions for their members.
  • Provision of shelter for trade union members made homeless following the disaster.
  • Enhancement of physical and mental well-being for those affected by the disaster.

Project Activities

Provision of office equipment, furniture and other equipment: the Project will arrange for purchase of office equipment and furniture for trade union organizations to replace those lost, damaged or destroyed during the disaster and of tools of trade of members of trade unions, damaged, lost or destroyed during the disaster.

Financial and/or material support for trade union members in need: the Project will provide financial and material support for families of trade union members through partner organisations.

Counseling and/or health clinics: the Project will provide financial assistance for partner organizations involved in provision of counseling services and/or health clinics for those affected by the Tsunami waves.

Vocational training: the Project will provide financial support for trade unions and community-based organizations involved in provision of vocational training for those affected by Tsunami waves.

Housing: the Project will provide financial support for trade unions for building houses (18) for their members made homeless due to the Tsunami waves.

Budget: £100,322

Progress

Housing

The construction of 9 houses at a unit cost of 350,000LKRs for beneficiaries selected by the Trade Union Women's Forum (TUWF) is underway in the South and East of Sri Lanka. A committee of seven members from the TUWF is overseeing the construction. Seven of the houses being built in the South are nearing completion.

House nearly finished


TUC Aid is funding the construction of 9 houses for members of the Free Trade Zones /General Services Employees' Union (FTZGSEU). A Joint Committee consisting of three women from the Women's Centre and three men from the Union is in charge of the housing programme. There has been some delay due to the increase in the prices of building materials and due to the deteriorating security situation in some areas where houses are to be built in the East.

Counselling Services/Health Clinics

The Government Nursing Officers' Association (GNOA ) is providing counselling services and/or health clinics in Colombo, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. There are 14 Counselling Programmes (two per district). Some thirty men and twenty women are taking part in them. Two types of programmes are being implemented - one for people affected by the Tsunami and another for local civil servants, including public health inspectors, midwives, schoolteachers and representatives from voluntary organizations. At local level, civil

servants play a crucial role in the long-term rehabilitation programmes run by the Government and various NGOs. Activities are to be completed by 31 August 2006.

A vocational training programme organised by the Jana Setha Sahana Foundation (JSSF) - local NGO - is underway. 271 women and 89 men will have received training in the manufacture of exercise books, joss sticks and candles under the Programme. Trainees will be provided with equipment and material, which will enable them to start their own business, following training. Training workshops are being held in Matara, Hambantota, Galle, Kalutara, Trincomalee and Amparai.

Training - Making exercise books


Training - Making exercise books


  • The Lanka Jathika Estate Workers' Union (LJEWU) is conducting a training programme for members and their families affected by the Tsunami. The Programme consists of training workshops in handloom weaving, concrete making and coir fibre production. The Union has arranged for the construction of permanent structures for the machinery and material so that the training programme can be sustained in the long run. 25 handloom machines and one cement block machine have been purchased for training purposes. Some 50 women will receive ten-day training in handloom weaving. 15 men will be trained in concrete making in Galle and Kalmunai while 15 women will also receive 5-day training in coir fibre production. Trainees, on completion of their courses, will receive a tool kit to establish business on their own.

Material Support

The Confederation of Public Services Independent Trade Unions (COPSITU) received two computers, printers, tables, cupboards, filing cabinets etc for their offices in Amparai and Matara.

Donation of office equipment


The Friendship House in Koggala in the South of Sri Lanka received office equipment and furniture. In addition, the Friendship House was provided with a number of other items -a moped, an overhead projector, a projector screen and kitchen appliances etc to be used for training purposes.

Fishing nets (10), sewing machines (5), bicycles (10), food processing appliances and other miscellaneous items were distributed by the All Ceylon Federation of Free Trade Unions (ACFFTU) to trade union members affected by the Tsunami, enabling some trade union members and their families to re-engage in income-generating activities.

The Project provided the Regional Office of the Ceylon Workers' Congress with office equipment and furniture to replace some of the equipment destroyed in the Tsunami.

The Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya distributed sets of household items, kitchen utensils and educational material to fifty families affected by the Tsunami in Kalutara and Galle in the South of Sri Lanka .

The Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya handed over five mopeds to five of their members who lost their modes of transport in the Tsunami.

Donation of Mopeds


Financial Assistance

The Sri Lanka Nurses' Association (SLNA ), at its 63rd Annual General Meeting on 17 February 2006 in Colombo, handed over cheques (10,000 LKR each) to 25 of its members in the North and East of Sri Lanka who were affected by the disaster in December 2005.

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