13 January 2005

Surangani Newsletter #3

by Shigeko Baba

Greetings to the friends of Surangani. I apologize for the delay in this report but I have just returned from Batticaloa, where they have lost all power and telephone lines making communication very difficult.

Vadduwan report

Out of the 125 school children in this village, we have had reported losses of 15 children (5 of whom visited Colombo with us). Many of the families have returned to the village and some have been housed in 20 donated emergency tents set up in the temporary evacuation center within the school grounds. In order for the children of the area to return to some sort of normalcy and routine, the schools have been scheduled to re-open on the 8th of January. This required the moving of the 20 families that were set up on the school grounds to alternative emergency evacuation sites in the village. By the 9th, only two tents remained and by the 10th the school opened its doors to students. Two schools in neighboring areas were destroyed which meant that the Vadduwan school had to increase its occupancy to 175 students with the expectation of an increase as more students slowly return to school.

Surangani opened a clinic on the 9th of January and has so far treated a number of patients with complaints of headaches, stomachaches, nausea and various cuts and bruises. There were many mothers, bereft of children, showing signs of emotional distress and complaints of nausea and headache.

Out of our students, 7 children had lost mothers and 40% of them had lost a sibling. Many sad stories abound, a young boy who couldn’t hold onto the hand of his younger sister in the swirling waters, an older sister who lost all three of her younger brothers. Every child bears physical as well as emotional scars.

We have tried to make a place for the children to come, to draw, read or play at will. On the 5th of January, we received sport kits from UNICEF. These provided the children with jump ropes and badminton sets, which were promptly set up and played with. As many of the children are subject to irregular meal times and inadequate nourishment, we recruited the older kids to provide the younger children with milk and biscuits twice a day at 10 am and 3pm. We decided to give the children responsibilities to provide a structure to their day. Within the grounds of the Surangani Center, the children were set to various tasks of cleaning, weeding and planting shrubs.

Now that the first phase of emergency relief has ended, the villagers are moving towards rebuilding their lost houses, shops and livelihoods. For those children who have started school, Surangani has provided them with various school goods such as stationery, school bags, and school shoes through your generous donations. On the 14th of January, the villagers lit lamps for lost brothers and sisters, family and friends.

Now, we continue our work with the children of Vadduwan, and make their welfare our priority. Your kindness and generosity has been felt and appreciated by each and every child and villager of Vadduwan. Thank you so very much.

Tomorrow, I will return to Vadduwan, I shall write again soon.