Supporting the temporary shelter for the May 2016 flood-‐affected communities in Meethotamulla, in Colombo district Project implemented by: Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement Supported by: Give2Asia Duration: From 01st August to 31st December 2016 Date of final reporting: 31st January 2017 1. Background Meethotamulla is one of the major slum areas inside the capital of Sri Lanka. Open dumping of the Colombo municipal garbage in this area in un-‐engineered manner and the repercussions of the open dumping on the lives of people living in the surrounding areas are usually hot topics with the local politicians and the media. It is really hard to believe that there are approximately 1,500 families living under these harsh conditions, and at least 147 families were identified in the low-‐lying Nagahamulla area, in the marsh, along the canal that discharges the highly polluted leachate of the garbage dump. Time to time the governments and the politicians are suggesting solutions, sometimes expensive engineering solutions to overcome the problems and suffering of the affected people, often on the political stages and in media, but unfortunately nothing much has been really done to benefit the lives of the people living in this area. Time to time, the governments have selected some people from this area, and with some compensations they have been relocated to elsewhere. But other less fortunate people still living in the area has to bear the fate with their children, until the government selects them for relocation someday. When the May 2016 floods hit the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, Meethotamulla was one of the areas worst hit by the floods, especially due to the vulnerability of the people living in the area. All most all the families in the low-‐lying areas of Meethotamulla were displaced, and they were temporarily sheltered in the Umagaliya playground. When the floodwater receded the people went back to their
homes and found many of their belongings including clothes, furniture, schoolbooks of children, electric items, mattresses and pillows etc. have been completely destroyed. Not only the last flood, but also the frequent flood water has deteriorated the timber planks that made the walls of these temporary shelter, and severe rains had almost destroyed the tin sheets that shade the roofs.
Photos: The surrounding of the project area Along the flood relief campaign Sarvodaya got an opportunity to serve these vulnerable people with the support and funding of Give2Asia. Dhahampura, which is referred as the 511A Grama Niladhari Division in Nagahamulla area, in Meethotamulla was targeted for this intervention, where we found the most vulnerable and helpless families who are living with this treacherous condition. There are 147 families living in the vicinity in the temporary shelter, along the canal. Considering their vulnerabilities and availability of resources Sarvodaya selected 33 families who are living along the discharge canal as the project beneficiaries with the technical assistance of the Give2Asia. The garbage has dumped more than 10 to 15 feet in this area and air has polluted with the dust, odor and other particles. The discharge canal spills with almost
all the rains, and the people have been struggling to fulfill their basic needs, rather than worrying about the dust and odor. Due to their vulnerabilities of other social issues such as unemployment, liquor, drugs, lack of dignity etc. they put a great effort for every day survival while facing this hectic situation. Problem of drinking water, sanitation, child protection, adultery also worsen alarming situation. Certainly newcomer for this area will not tolerate these harsh conditions and will feel difficult to adapt to the unpleasant smell and problem. Breeding of mosquitoes often makes them vulnerable to diseases such as dengue and effects of other insects such as flies; animals such as stray dogs and cats are intolerable. During the recent floods these people have suffered lot and it was the worst disaster to them in more than a decade. The problem gets worse as the garbage dumps are not covered by the soil properly, and they are open to air, animals and birds etc., which leads the infection problems. Burning the unwanted items and collecting the recycling stuffs are happening in unauthorized manner. The discharge or the leachate is not treated and it is just allowed to flow along the canal again polluting the water and the soil.
Photos: Quality of housing
In past some of the families have been relocated by the Government of Sri Lanka by allocating 1.5 million Rupees and others also expecting the government for same kind of assistance to relocate. Some of these people are living here for 10 to 15 years, and its surprising how some of them have adapted to the environment and they never wanted to leave the area. Most of the families depend on daily income sources for the livelihood such as three-‐wheel drivers, municipality cleaners and laborers, plastic and metal collectors, and some of them do not have any kind of formal income source at all. 2. Activities carried out The aim of this project is to support a better shelter for 33 families living in the Meethotamulla area by providing them the elements of basic housing infrastructure, increasing their living condition. Sarvodaya selected the beneficiaries considering their vulnerabilities including the family background, livelihoods and the current situation of the housing. Sarvodaya project team has visited the location several times for the initial assessment and finalized the 33 excessively exposed families to support the renovation of their shelters up to the acceptable standards.
Photos: Building materials being distributed
Our project team observed that people have made sand or cement stages in many houses to protect them when the flood or excess water come in to their house. While the water stays in people sit and sleep on the tiny stage and when the water receded they go back to the lower floor. It was not unusual practice to many of them, but when the small children living in these houses are considered it is really heartbreaking and painful to see and hear their experiences, and exposure. They don’t have the proper environment to live or study or play, and they face lot of hygienic and sanitation problems. Children are susceptible for contagious deceases and child abuse and they also don’t have proper atmosphere to continue their studies in their home environment. Parents also do not have much time for their children or sometimes they are incapable of setting examples for their children, and they mainly focus on their family income and day-‐to-‐day survival, exposing the children for many hazards. The project teams could not reach some places with vehicles due to narrow pathways and sometimes garbage disturbed the access blocking the both sides of the road.
Photos: Work in progress and volunteerism in action We started the implementation of the project activities with the mobilization and support of the abled-‐community members. It was very interesting to see how they were very keen and interested in helping each other for their survival and development. As the project intended to support temporary shelter after the severe floods in May 2016, the project did not expect to do
drastic changes to the overall structure of their houses or to provide support to construct permanent houses. But as the project team was so concerned of the wellbeing of the entire community they also managed to get some additional support to the beneficiaries beyond flood recovery. In cases of the women-‐headed households project also provided skilled and unskilled labor for house renovation, as the house-‐owners, the women could not supply the required labor. But in all the other cases the project mobilized and encouraged deploying and getting the local labor and the support of the neighbors, local communities and youth volunteers in constriction works. Additionally, with external funding support few school children have been supported with their educational material and one fully disabled beneficiary was supported for his livelihood by providing him a sewing machine to continue his sewing career. Out of the selected 33 families, 28 families received following items to rehabilitee their shelter. • Tin sheets (8 feet) -‐ # 24 • 2*4 wooden poles -‐ 150 feet • Cement-‐ 6 bags of 50kg • Sand -‐ 1/4 cubes • Metal -‐ 1/4 cubes • Cement bricks -‐ # 80 • Wooden planks – 1,100 feet Other 5 families received only the tin sheets and they received other supports from another institution, namely the mosque of the area.
Photos: New hope with new looks 3. Main outcomes of the project i. The marginalized and vulnerable community in Dhahampura, in Nagahamulla, under the notorious Meethotamulla garbage dump mobilized in community work ii. 33 temporary shelters in Meethotamulla supported with construction material a. 28 temporary shelters fully supported with tin sheets, wooden planks, bricks, sand and metal etc. b. 05 temporary shelters partially supported with tin sheets iii. At least one disabled-‐household supported with livelihood with a sewing machine (case study 01) iv. Quality of lives of at least few families drastically enhanced (case studies 01 and 02) v. Greater public awareness of Meethotamulla issue through media and social media vi. Overall improvement of the quality of life of the 33 vulnerable households vii. Issues of urban tenement gardens brought to the concern of Government officials (District and Divisional Secretaries), larger society and civil society viii. Sarvodaya considering cleaning the discharge canal with some other project support, so the canal will not often spill and submerge the houses ix. Additional support provided by the suppliers after they are sensitized of the issue
Photos: Guests with compassion: Vice President of Sarvodaya Ms. Neetha Ariyaratne; Divisional Secretary of Kollonnawa; Executive Director of Sarvodaya Mr. Chamindha Rajakaruna
4. Challenges Despite the smooth operation and implementation of the project, the following challenges were identified during the implementation of the project. i. The difficult social, economic dynamics of the particular community needs different set of skills for the social mobilizers ii. Multiple, and complex issues faced by the beneficiaries often undermines the project support, by some beneficiaries iii. The project support does not change the overall environment, so the beneficiaries face the same consequences again and again iv. Additionally, transporting building material to the sites by heavy vehicles was impossible, so the project team had to use small vehicles increasing transportation costs 5. Monitoring and Communication During this process of renovating the 33 temporary shelters, our project teams made visits regularly to the project site and monitored the progress and the quality of the work. Sarvodaya District Coordinator for the Colombo district has been the focal point for this success, with his frequent visits, community mobilizers, and his style of work with particular community. The Executive Director of Sarvodaya also visited this project location in person with lot of enthusiasm to see the people’s mobilization and action. He also spent considerable time with this community to understand their problems and their needs. 6. Future intervention Sarvodaya’s intended future intervention in this particular community will include pressurizing the Government and Local Government officials in providing solutions for the community and garbage disposal issue through its good governance program ‘Deshodaya’. No one will know how long would it take to fully implement the relocation, and even after the relocation there is no guarantee nobody else would come in to take the same place. Therefore we strongly believe any future intervention should take the children at risk in such environments have to be accounted for to prevent their vulnerabilities in child abuse, school drop outs, drug addictions etc.
Photos: Vulnerability of children 7. Financial Report The total cost of the project is 2,654,657 LKR, and the detailed financial report is given below.
Success stories: 01 Story of Roshan, the disabled with 4 young children Roshan is 42 years old and he has been living under the garbage dump in Nagahamulla in Meethotamulla for the last 10 years in his temporary home. He is a disabled, without both his legs, and has a heavy family with 4 small children. His home is located very close to the canal and marsh at the edge of the land plot of Nagahamulla. His home was around 6 years old, and it was nearly collapsing. The polluted water coming with each minor and severe floods after almost all the rains over the time has ruined Roshan’s home. The last flood of concern in May 2016, almost destroyed the home completely. He, with his family of 4 children, aged 11, 8, 6, 3 years, temporary sheltered at the tents in the Umagaliya playgrounds. They lost almost all their belongings. After the floodwater receded, Roshan and his family returned and found out that they have to start everything all over. With some effort, It will not be a big problem for a normal family, but for Roshan without his both legs it was almost an impossible task.
Photos: Roshan’s home with children and start of renovation
But when Sarvodaya started the Give2Asia project in Nagahamulla, the project team, volunteers and the neighbors got together and demolished the collapsing house and built a new temporary house with timber for Roshan and family. Roshan fed his family by sewing clothes in a shop in town, and he had to travel with the public transport each day to reach the shop. But when the news of Roshan spread a Swiss volunteer working with Sarvodaya Colombo donated a sewing machine to Roshan, and now he has started his sewing business at his home.
Photo: Sewing machine for Roshan Success stories: 02 Story of Velappa, the abandoned elder Velappa, of approximately 80 years of age is the person who had come to this plot of land in Nagahamulla at the very beginning, almost 15-‐20 years ago. Having his wife dead long time back, and deserted by the daughter who has left the country, Velappa had lived alone in a small hut, with his 4 dogs. He has grown some green leafy vegetables around his hut in the march and that was his entire income to feed himself and the dogs. After the floods in May 2016 he left his hut and lived in the shade of roofs of public buildings.
When the Give2Asia project started in the Nagahamulla, Velappa was not an initial beneficiary as he was not living in the land, and his hut could not be verified as temporary shelter, but later the project team found out the story of Velappa, and with the generous contributions and labour of the other beneficiaries, the project could build a single room, small size timber house for Velappa. When the house was handed over to Velappa, tears came to all’s eyes seeing the gratitude Velappa had for the project team and his neighbors.
Photos: Velappa’s old home and new home, and the neighbors who supported them
Photo: Exposing the Meethotamulla issue to the world
Photos: Thank you G2A