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Faith coalition helps Sri Lankans in struggle to recovery

Jan. 6, 2005	 News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {05009}

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Paul Jeffrey*

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (UMNS) -  Homeless and hungry, survivors of the
tsunami that struck Sri Lanka on Dec. 26 are struggling to carry on with
life in almost a thousand temporary shelters around the island nation,
accompanied by faith communities providing food, clothing, shelter and
other support.

Among those providing critical care for the 900,000 people who lost
their homes to the huge waves is the National Christian Council of Sri
Lanka, a member of Action by Churches Together International. ACT is a
global alliance of churches and church-based agencies, including the
United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Within hours of the disaster, the National Christian Council began
purchasing emergency supplies, and by the following day had dispatched a
truck with food to the hard-hit eastern coastline, where local Anglican,
Methodist and Church of South India congregations took charge of
distribution to affected families.

Assisted by an initial emergency grant of $50,000 from ACT
International, the National Christian Council sent out 11 trucks with
emergency supplies in the first week, all to communities on the eastern
and southern coasts. Volunteers sorted and packed the supplies in a
distribution center established in Colombo's City Mission. In addition
to food and clothing, the trucks carried water, water tanks, medicines
and cooking pots.

The council sent an additional truck to the east coast carrying medicine
donated by an ACT member, where a team of five council-sponsored
physicians spent several days attending the sick in refugee shelters.

Because of logistical difficulties in reaching the far north of the
country, the council sent funds to the Christian Union in Jaffna,
enabling that regional church coalition to provide emergency assistance
to shelters in the remote lagoon area. The council also provided funding
to purchase baby bottles, rubber sandals and food in an area of the
country controlled by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The council spent $130,000 on relief supplies during the first six days,
according to S.K. Xavier, coordinator of the agency's relief and
rehabilitation efforts.

The organization's staff was increased to meet the challenge, and it is
assessing needs throughout the country so that the agency can identify
under-served areas and respond appropriately with supplies, Xavier said.

At the same time, the council is organizing training in post-trauma
counseling. The executive secretary of the organization's women's
commission, the Rev. Sumithra Fernando, spent most of the first week
after the tsunami providing pastoral support for caregivers on the
country's eastern coast.

Fernando, a Methodist pastor, said the experience that the council and
other organizations have in responding to the country's civil war isn't
easily transferable to the tsunami.

"When refugees run away from armed conflict, they usually do so with
something in their hands," Fernando said. "But this is an unexpected
disaster, and they've escaped only with their lives. In war, people can
go back home in a few days, but this is different. They don't have
houses to go home to."

Xavier praised the local churches that have opened their sanctuaries as
shelters, as well as the rapid response of the international community.

"We weren't ready for this big a calamity, but we're getting organized
and things are falling into place, thanks to the help of our partners
both here and outside the country. We've had good cooperation from all,"
he said.

The first week of emergency work was taking a toll, he said. "We're all
exhausted, but it's a pleasurable exhaustion because it comes from
serving our people. And there's so much more we can do. (But) we're
organizing ourselves rapidly."

The council has brought together a core committee of church leaders to
help plan the response, and that group designated a liaison to work with
government agencies to better coordinate efforts.

"The government is still getting organized, and we're hoping its
response accelerates in order to better meet the demands of the people,"
Xavier said.

According to the Rev. Lokendra Abhayaratne, the Anglican archdeacon of
Galle in the devastated south of Sri Lanka, the government's slow
response is due in part to the death and displacement of so many
government officials in that region. He said he expects the government
to improve its response in the coming week.

Abhayaratne said that most assistance to victims in the south has been
provided by faith communities, and that a good spirit of cooperation
exists.

"I sent two trucks of food from the Christian Council over to a Buddhist
temple," he said. "The temples are doing a wonderful job of responding
to this crisis, and we're working well together."

Sri Lanka faces tremendous challenges in the wake of the tsunami's giant
waves. The death toll is officially almost 30,000, but many observers
expect it to rise to about 46,000 as more complete information arrives
from isolated areas. Another 5,000 people are officially missing, and
more than 12,000 are injured. Seventy thousand houses are gone.

Thousands of land mines have reportedly washed loose. With more than
1,000 kilometers of coastline laid waste, employment in the tourist and
fishing sectors will take years to recover. The country's economy and
morale were already debilitated by a lengthy civil war, despite a
cease-fire that began in 2003. Fear of the future compounds the
anguished memory of the giant waves for many of the victims.

Yet the Rev. Jayasiri Peiris, who took over as general secretary of the
National Christian Council Jan. 1, said the tragedy may bring some
positive changes.

"There is a silver lining to this disaster," Peiris said. "This is a
good opportunity to bring the different religions in Sri Lanka closer
together, to bring the different communities - Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim,
Buddhist, Hindu, Christian - together to concentrate on the entire Sri
Lanka, not just the lack of peace, not just the problem of
self-determination for the Tamils, but rather all the issues that
confront us.

"It's a great opportunity for all Sri Lankans to come together, to
mobilize around rebuilding our nation and our people," Peiris continued.
"We've got to do more than just rebuild buildings. We've got to rebuild
a people that has been left traumatized by this disaster. But that's a
process that's going to take years and years."

Donations to ACT's United Methodist partner, the United Methodist
Committee on Relief, can be made out to "South Asia Emergency" and
placed in local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR, 475
Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Designate checks for
UMCOR Advance #274305 and "South Asia Emergency." Credit-card donations
can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.

# # #

*Jeffrey is a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries missionary
working for Action by Churches Together in Sri Lanka. This story was
distributed by ACT, a global alliance of churches and related agencies
working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, UMNS, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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