Survivors of last year’s devastating Boxing Day tsunami continue in their daily struggle to rebuild their lives nearly one year after the disaster. ACT and other Christian charities have been helping them in this struggle.
One of the greatest challenges that remain for many of Sri Lanka’s communities that survived the disaster is the lack of permanent housing, reports Action by Churches Together.
ACT has been supporting 175 families currently living in Angulana camp south of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo since June, with 45 of the families coming from the same village.The families had previously found temporary accommodation in a temple school in Pandura, assisted by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).
Priyantha Peiris, his wife Suwarnalatha and their three-and-a-half year old daughter all survived the tsunami but lost all their life possessions. Suwarnalatha also suffered the loss of sight in one eye after being swept away by the waters of the tsunami.
“I can’t read anymore but sometimes I use the spectacles of my mother-in-law,” said the 31-year-old. “Somehow I feel sad for my life."
She added, however, that she did not want to complain despite life being hard on her and her family: “Life is a bit difficult, but we are alive.”
The Sri Lankan Government has recently approved a proposal by the YWCA, through its membership in the National Christian Council of Churches of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), and made possible by the ACT Tsunami Appeal, to buy land and construct 70 permanent houses.
“It’s a lovely piece of land,” said the YWCA’s project coordinator in Panadura, Sharmini Tennekoon.
