World Vision assists over 10,000 families as rains return to battered regions Vision stepped up its emergency relief programmes as heavy W orld rains returned to Sri Lanka for the second time in two weeks
affecting over 1.2 million in the North Central and Eastern provinces of the country.
moving back to their homes when the rains returned with more ferocity wreaking havoc once again.The government and relief agencies that had just commenced a recovery programme for the communities,after the first flood, were forced to shift back to relief mode once again.
World Vision is assisting over 10,000 families in the affected regions with cooked meals, emergency relief items and dry rations.World Vision is also assisting medical teams with transport to the affected areas and also in the bowsering of water to the affected communities.
There is an urgent need for health and nutritional support especially for pregnant and nursing mothers and children under five, mobile clinics and dissemination of hygiene information to mitigate the spread of water borne disease.
“The situation is very grave as the floods have caused widespread destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods and some families have lost all their possessions - house, furniture, cattle and crops” said Suresh Bartlett,World Vision Lanka’s National Director.
One of the saddest aspects of this catastrophe has been the impact it has had on children. Over 300,000 children have been unable to continue their schooling because of the damage caused to school buildings.They have also lost all their text books and other learning materials,including recently issued uniforms, school bags, shoes and other accessories necessary for school.
Infrastructural damage is widespread with most major roads damaged and submerged and power supply cut off. More than 500 irrigation tanks and anicuts have been damaged and nearly 200,000 acres of paddy cultivation destroyed and several thousands of acres of other crops. An estimated 75,000 wells are contaminated leaving more than 50,000 families with no access to safe water for drinking and cooking. In the first two weeks of January unprecedented rainfall and floods had displaced thousands of families and these communities had just begun
Twelve World Vision Programme areas in the North Central and Eastern Provinces have been adversely affected by the current floods. World Vision has supplied cooked food, dry rations and non-food relief items to over 10,000 persons and providing transport to the medical teams to reach the affected communities.WV’s recovery programme focused on drinking water, well-cleaning, non food relief items and mobile clinics.
Our Goal - Fullness of Life for Every Child
Editorial Floods pose fresh challenges for embattled Lanka Having spent the last six years in rebuilding after the tsunami and a 26-year war, the country is once again faced with similar challenges after unprecedented rains wreaked havoc in North Central and Eastern Sri Lanka leaving a trail of despair and destruction. As noted in our cover story, there has been widespread destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods and as the flood waters, recede the initial estimates of the toll are bewildering. Farmers are distraught after seeing their entire cultivations destroyed; communities who have spent years struggling to climb out of poverty suddenly find themselves having to start all over again. Regretfully, many people believe that once the rains cease and the flood waters recede everything is back to normal.They forget that the rebuilding process for the affected communities is a slow, painful and arduous journey. World Vision has been supporting the communities throughout the emergency phase and is now gearing to launch recovery programmes to enable those affected to rebuild their lives. World Vision continues to assist the communities in other parts of the country as well. The story of Thevarani is just one of the many success stories of families rebuilding their lives after the war. Maternal and Child health continues to remain a key focus area and we feature a simple nutritional feeding programme which has made a remarkable impact in the nutrition levels of children helping World Vision to contribute positively towards the country’s MDGs. Every day 24,000 children around the world die from preventable causes like diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia and the underlying cause of most deaths is linked to malnutrition. In Asia alone, a child dies every six seconds and in the time it takes you to drop your child off at school, several hundred children around the world would not have survived to enjoy school.
World Vision implements Mental Health initiative in the North Vision Lanka recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the W orld Ministry of Health and the College of Psychiatrists to implement a special project on mental health for the Northern Province.The programme is funded by AusAID and will entail an initial investment of LKR 50 million over a one-year period.
In this special initiative,WorldVision will assist the Ministry of Health in the implementation of the community based components of the National Mental Health Policy in the Northern Province through the ‘Reconciliation through integration of Mental Health in Northern Districts’ (REMIND) in Sri Lanka. The project design seeks to use best practices to build the capacity of government mental health services and the communities they serve. In particular, strengthening relationships is central to the project approach. REMIND relies on the belief that equitable recovery and reconciliation in the north can be facilitated by greater trust and better relationships between individuals, families, communities and government services. “The project will incorporate best practices and lessons learnt from a similar initiative previously funded by WorldVision in the South and we are grateful for their support along with AusAID’s funding” said Dr Palitha Mahipala,Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health. The people living in northern Sri Lanka have experienced prolonged conflict, displacement and extreme poverty. As families begin resettling in their villages and re-establishing their livelihoods,mental health and well-being has been identified as an urgent and important need “Protecting and responding to the mental health needs and wellbeing of communities is essential for meaningful recovery from conflict and displacement,” said Suresh Bartlett, National Director of WorldVision Lanka. The Ministry of Health (MOH), Health Services (Northern Provincial Council), Medical Office of Mental Health (MOMH), College of Psychiatrists (COP) will be key partners in the project.
Editorial Team Asanga Warnakulasuriya Dion Schoorman Hasanthi Jayamaha Jayaweera Kohombange Neomal Weerakoon
Help us to keep them smiling... Contents: Cover Page Editorial, Children’s Page, Child Health Now ADP News, HEA News comments: editor_kathika@wvi.org
At World Vision we are passionate about the well being of children and ensuring them life in all its fullness. If you are interested in learning more about our work or would like to join us in partnership in any of our programmes please email, dion_schoorman@wvi.org
Children’s Page
Muruththanna Library: a gift from children for children room is quiet except for the occasional sound made by the T heturning of a leaf of a book. There is an air of tranquility about the Muruththanna library that seemingly belies the vast treasure house it contains. There are books with big colourful pictures and less words; books with large letters and small letters; books with Russian tales, Chinese proverbs, Aesop’s fables; books on science, cultures and myths; books with adventure and short stories; books on famous people and famous works. The village of Muruththanna is located in the town of Ambagamuwa in the hill country of Sri Lanka and its Library is special not only because it is the only library for the eight villages in Muruththanna, but because it was a gift initiated by children for children. Migara (13) sits at the table by the window and scans through the pile of books he has carefully chosen from the book shelves. “I like reading books on general knowledge the best, because it helps me in school quizzes,” smiles Migara, “Sometimes we do quizzes even during free times in the class. I really like books on geography and the world.” “I enjoy reading adventure stories too,” he says, “My favourite is ‘Anduru Dupathe Abhrahasa’ (The Mystery of the Dark Island). It is a story about the bravery of a group of friends who solve a mystery
in that island.”The idea of the library was initiated by children of the many child societies run by World Vision. “Not many of us have access to libraries because some schools don’t have library facilities,” says Ishani, a Child Society President. “That’s when we thought we should start sharing the books we have with others. First we began to bring books and exchange and read. Then we decided to donate at least one book we have, to create a library,” she says. They began with 200 books in a little room in the community hall and almost every school going child visits it.The children have developed the habit to donate a book to the library on their birthdays. Today the library has over 500 books. “World Vision has taught us about our rights, but also about our responsibilities. We must give something back to our community without always fighting for rights alone,” smiles the young leader. The Ambagamuwa Area Development Programme (ADP) serves a community where the majority are estate workers. The drop out rate of students was a major issue in the community as poverty forced most children of these families to drop out of school and go in search of work in towns away from home. In its work, especially through the Child Societies, World Vision has been able to address this issue and bring about a marked decline in the school drop out rate.
child health
Community based nutritional feeding programme yields positive results Vision Lanka has decided to scale up its PD Hearth W orld programme across the country after initial experiments yielded very encouraging results during the last year.
The programme was launched in Padiyathalawa in the Ampara district which is one of the most impoverished villages in the country. A pilot project among 30 children yielded positive results and the programme was then extended to cover 871 underweight children (450 boys and 421 girls) their mothers and caregivers and the results were simply amazing. Of the 871 children, 762 (87.5%) had weight gains of 0-600 grams in just 12 days. After a further three weeks, more than 300 children had ‘graduated’ to the ‘correct weight’. Positive Deviance (PD) Hearth is a community based nutritional feeding programme for children who are at risk of malnutrition. It has enabled hundreds of communities to reduce their levels of childhood malnutrition and to prevent malnutrition of its future generations. The “positive deviance” approach is used to find uncommon beneficial practices by mothers or caretakers of well-nourished children from impoverished families. Once identified, the goal is to spread these practices and behaviours to others in the community with malnourished children. A “Hearth” is the setting of the nutrition education and rehabilitation part of the programme. Suggesting a family around a fireplace or kitchen,
Hearths are carried out in home settings where caretakers and volunteers prepare “positive deviant foods”. They practice beneficial child care behaviours and feed malnourished children with extra energy rich/caloriedense supplemental meals. A 12-day training programme for mothers covers all aspects of child healthcare with a strong emphasis on nutrition choices.The programme includes classes in cooking using locally available ingredients to create balanced diets appropriate for different stages of a child’s growth. The programme also enables families to sustain the rehabilitation of their children on their own by using easily available local resources. It also prevents future malnutrition among the children in the community by changing community norms in childcare, feeding and good health practices. Malnutrition has been the underlying cause of most deaths due to disease and World Vision has intentionally focused its efforts on improving the nutritional intake of children under five and pregnant and nursing mothers. World Vision Lanka has intentionally woven its strategy around the MDGs and has been supporting the country’s efforts at reaching its targets through a range of programmes and activities in Health and Nutrition, Education, and Water and Sanitation. A key area of focus is MDGs 4 and 5 pertaining to maternal and child health.
adp news
World Vision Lanka National Director Suresh Bartlett handing over a certificate to a participant who had successfully completed the Personal & Professional Development Programme for youth in the estate sector. World Vision has partnered with Tea Leaf Trust to implement similar programmes for the estate community in Ambagamuwa.
The Mundel ADP recently completed its assessments of the area and shared their findings with key stakeholders. The findings highlighted the high rate of school drop-outs, low quality of education, child labour, teenage marriages and teenage pregnancies. Provincial Council Member Sanath Nishantha who was present at the occasion thanked World Vision for supporting one of the poorest of the poor areas in Sri Lanka.
In a unique and an innovative venture, Navagaththegama ADP recently held an exhibition themed ‘Health for fullness of life’ using their general market place as the venue. Over 2000 school children and adults visited the exhibition which had an STD unit, a thalassaemia Unit, TB unit, and an interactive street drama to build awareness on health and nutrition. A mobile dental unit provided free dental checkup for all students.
With an aim to promote environmentally friendly farming practices, Wanathawilluwa ADP converted 12 best maintained organic farms into ‘Green Training Centres’ recently. The centres provide training on cultivation methods such as SRI and Kakulan cultivation method, water management, soil protection and environmental sustainability.
Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs ‘Cash for Work’ - rekindling hope for Thevarani sits amidst her onion cultivation, combing the plants T hevarani with her hands, searching for weeds to be pulled out. After the children leave for school, this is where she spends most of her time.
immediately after and it was very timely because we were looking for work to support our families.”
“We used to do cultivation before the war escalated and we had to leave everything and go,” says Thevarani.
“One person from every family was eligible to work and since my husband couldn’t do hard work because of the wounds he received in a shell attack, I decided to go for work. I was part of a group that cleared an access road,” she said.
“We had paddy fields and we also cultivated vegetables - onion, brinjal, carrot, beetroot, manioc… We had enough to eat and enough to have a good income to support the children in their schooling and other needs,” she says.
The CFW programme funded by World Vision paid them each Rs 500/- daily for six hours of work. With the money she earned from the programme, Thevarani bought the necessary seeds she needed to restart cultivation.
With the war escalating and their home and fields no longer safe, Thevarani and her husband Thevaratnam left home with their three children aged 4, 9, and 13, looking for refuge. The family was often caught up in the hostilities and also experienced multiple displacements as they moved from one place to another for a whole year, before they reached the over-crowded camps in Vavuniya.
“CFW gave me an income and a chance to recover our livelihood,” she smiles, “all this cultivation is what I bought with CFW money and I bought other vegetable seeds too, and we are already able to use the yield for home consumption.”
A few months later, after the guns fell silent, they returned home to find their house damaged and the fields completely destroyed and overgrown. “We spent about 40 days clearing our home and the fields with the support of the government and we received dry rations from the WFP for the first few months,” said Thevarani, “World Vision’s Cash for Work (CFW) Programme was introduced
“Clearing the access road gave us another benefit,” adds Thevarani,“Now we have easy access to our cultivation fields and are able to easily transport our harvest to the markets.” The family also received a water pump from World Vision through its economic recovery programme. WV’s CFW project has benefited over 800 returned families in the North and has seen nearly 40 km of road clearing and irrigation channel repair.
HEA
World Vision repaired and reconstructed the Barathy Vidyalam in Kilinochchi recently. Children who had been studying under trees can now continue their education in brand new classrooms. World Vision has helped reconstruct several schools in the North which had been damaged by the conflict.
Several schools in Pallikuda, Kilinochchi received school furniture from World Vision. Previously children had no place to sit since most of the furniture had been destroyed. Now children have received desks and chairs, which has made learning a more comfortable experience, says teachers.World Vision has provided school furniture to over 20 schools in Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Mullativu Districts.
World Vision Lanka recently completed a ‘Cash for Work’ programme with active community participation to reconstruct Semmankundru road in Kilinochchi District. Through this special initiative WV has mobilised the community to participate in reconstruction work for a daily wage. Over 80 km of road and irrigation canals in North have been reconstructed and cleared through the ‘Cash for Work’ programmme
V. Karunanidi of Uthayanagar West, in Killinochchi is a successful farmer who was assisted by World Vision through its Economic Development Programme for returnees. World Vision provided him with water pumps, pipes and other agricultural tools and he now earns around Rs. 15,000 selling vegetables. Karunanidi is among 250 farmers helped by World Vision in Killinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts.
Today, around the world, 24,000 children under five will die of preventable causes including diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia Together we can end preventable deaths