wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 705-UMCOR continues tsunami work in Sri Lanka,

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

UMCOR continues tsunami work in Sri Lanka, other nations

Dec. 19, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*
New York {705}

NOTE: Photographs and related stories are available at
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/>

By Linda Bloom

Although security concerns have increased since the November
presidential election in Sri Lanka, the United Methodist Committee on
Relief is continuing its tsunami work there.

The agency also has addressed tsunami-related needs in India, Thailand
and Somalia.

Since the beginning of its response, UMCOR has had a partnership with
the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, which has more than 30,000 members
from all ethnic groups. A local partnership offers a number of
advantages, especially since Sri Lankan Methodists are skilled at peace
building and reconciliation and enjoy good relations with both the
government and the Tamil rebel movement.

While tsunami projects relating to public infrastructure and income
generation have moved ahead, a large-scale housing program approved by
UMCOR directors last spring has been postponed to early next year for a
variety of reasons, ranging from the weather to government regulations,
according to Sharad Aggarwal, an UMCOR staff member in New York.

The $8 million housing and community services project will be in the
districts of Trincomalee, Ampara, Battacaloa, Matara and Mullaitivu. The
Methodist Church has identified about 1,200 families living in camps
adjacent to their original communities who will benefit from the
project.

Meanwhile, income generation remains a priority, and for Sri Lanka, that
means restoring the livelihoods of those in the fishing industry.

Last spring, UMCOR and the Methodist Church consulted with the leaders
of 28 fishing societies, comprising mostly Tamils and Hindus, about what
they needed to help regain their livelihoods. The resulting weeklong
beach clearance project in Kieran provided lunch and fair wages to
workers from the societies.

UMCOR had earlier set aside $100,000 for the fishing societies, which is
being used to assist with the purchase of boats, nets and other
equipment.

The fishing project's second phase may be related to training for
fisheries, small-scale industries and farms, along with infrastructure
needs such as access roads to the beach and access to fresh water. A
draft project proposal will be developed, according to the November
report from UMCOR Sri Lanka.

Other projects include:

*	Reconstruction of irrigation tanks in Periya-Kallar, completed
Nov. 25.
*	Distribution of fruit seedlings for 1,200 families through four
selected farmers' organizations, completed Dec. 2.
*	Near-completion of the Muthur access road for farmers to their
paddy field, with the rest to be completed by the farmers after the
rainy season ends.
*	Plowing and issue of seed for the paddy field, also completed.

Programs under development by UMCOR Sri Lanka include the construction
of semi-permanent classrooms and rehabilitation of water and sanitation
facilities for Pethalai school, an area badly affected by the tsunami
and ethnic conflict. The facilities also would provide temporary shelter
to those displaced because of flooding.

The rehabilitation of a school road in Kaluwenkerny village, north of
Batticaloa, and a self-help housing plan in the Plmodai area also are
under consideration.

UMCOR's Batticaloa program staff has agreed to assist in emergency
response due to flooding during the monsoon season, the November report
said. UMCOR will be in charge of distributing food relief items from the
United Nations to people in the Pethalai area.

Reconciliation also is important for Sri Lanka. UMCOR's goal is to bring
together community, religious and ethnic leaders "to form common
decision-making groups, to plan the future of their communities, and to
build trust and understanding."

Partnerships in India

In India, UMCOR has been working with Churches Auxiliary for Social
Action and the Methodist Church of India on tsunami relief.

This fall, UMCOR directors approved a grant of $505,983 to support
tsunami recovery efforts by the Methodist Church of India in Chennai and
the Andaman Island. Those efforts include scholarship help for nursing
students whose families lost their income; the repair and building of
houses; and church renovation for social service programs.

CASA - of which the Methodist Church of India is a member and UMCOR is a
donor -  received a grant of $677,747 to restock supplies expended since
the tsunami. A $320,000 grant to CASA also had been approved in April.

Directors earmarked $1 million for future application by CASA to allow
the agency to respond to other disasters in India during a time when it
is heavily involved in tsunami recovery and reconstruction.

Helping Thailand, Somalia

In Thailand, an UMCOR grant has assisted vulnerable Burmese families
from Myanmar who live in Thailand's coastal region.

UMCOR also assisted its longtime partner in Somalia, Center for
Education and Development, which identified 2,750 destitute families
whose breadwinners died or were injured because of the tsunami. The
grant helped provide food rations, plastic sheeting and fishing
equipment.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.
********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/>

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