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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: A tale of two houses

By Patrick Fuller, International Federation Communications Coordinator in Sri Lanka

When the Asian tsunami struck Sri Lanka's coastline almost two years ago, 63 year old Ernest de Silva was at home enjoying a cricket match on the TV. "People were shouting all around about the water coming in but I paid no attention because I was more interested in the cricket", he explains. When the second wave came ashore Ernest soon found himself being swept out of the house by a huge surge of water. He and his wife only managed to survive by clinging onto a coconut tree.

Today Ernest is putting the final touches to his new home in Balapitya in the southern District of Galle. He is busy supervising some local carpenters who are installing the windows and door-frames. In the back yard a cockerel stands tethered to a small tree in preparation for a ritual that will christen the new home. When the door frames are complete - the cockerel will enter through the front door and leave through the back, driving out any evil spirits that might remain on the site.

For Ernest and thousands like him, his new home will herald a new beginning. For the past two years he has lived crammed in to a four meter squared wooden shelter with his wife, daughter and son-in law and their two children. After the tsunami the family sought shelter in a local Buddhist temple where they stayed for a few weeks. They were dependent on the charity of the monks and distributions of relief supplies made by NGOs in the weeks after the disaster.

"We had nothing but the clothes we escaped in", explains Ernest. "The Red Cross gave as clothing, sleeping mats and bed sheets". But they couldn't remain at the temple and after a couple of weeks decided to move back to the site of their former home. Only the foundations of their house remained, everything else had been swept out to sea as the wave retreated. The Buddhist monks gave them some zinc roofing sheets which they used to build the temporary shelter together with pieces of wood and plastic sheeting that they managed to salvage.

As the weeks turned into months Ernest became increasingly concerned about the family's future and his own health. His home was 65 meters from the sea and fell within the 100 meter coastal buffer zone where the government had prohibited any reconstruction. "We were promised a new house in a relocation site a few kilometers inland but that never came to anything. I developed high blood pressure and my diabetes became worse. I had no income because my shop had also been destroyed". Eventually Ernest found part time work at the local 'Tsunami betting centre' where he receives a daily commission of $USD 4-5 - barely enough to get by.

When the Government changed its housing policy last November, the buffer zone was revised to 45 meters which meant that Ernest was entitled to a cash grant from the Government to rebuild his own home. He would receive a US$ 2,500 base grant provided in installments linked to the completion of the foundations, walls and roof of the house. The plan was for donors to supplement the Government grants by an equivalent amount of top-up funding which in Ernest's case was provided by the Netherlands Red Cross who have also helped to guide him through the construction process.

"At the beginning I had no idea how to build a house but the Red Cross technical officers have helped me. They come every week to make sure that we are doing it in the right way", he explains. Before starting on the house, the technical officer assigned to Ernest helped him with the basic design and provided guidance on the amount of sand, cement, bricks and timber he should budget for. Ernest was free to choose the local masons, carpenters and electricians who would help him to build the house. After two months the roof is on and the family plan to move in before Christmas.

A few kilometers down the road Sunil Gayasiris new house has reached roof-level. As soon as he receives the final grant installment from the Government he will be able to go out and buy window frames and sashes and complete the electrical wiring in the house. An electrician by trade, Sunil lost everything in the tsunami. The only item that he managed to salvage was his refrigerator which ended up on a neighbor's roof.

Like Ernest, he has been living in a small wooden shelter next to the site of his former house together with his wife Madhuka and their five year old son Sunil. "I can't wait to leave this shelter", says Madhuka. "During the monsoon the rain runs down from the main road and come straight through the hut. We are also too close to the beach, the sound of the waves at night frightens our son". Sunil and Madhuka have been building the house since September and hope to be in by early December.

Red Cross volunteers Navindra and Romesh are on the site to check that everything is going well. Together with Beneficiary Relations officers assigned to the area, the volunteers organize fortnightly progress meetings which bring together families who are involved in the owner driven housing programme.

According to Kanthi Hewakankege, the Red Cross's Beneficiary Relations Manager, the meetings are aimed at developing cooperation between households. "We don't lecture people we encourage them to share experiences and exchange information," says Kanthi. "People come together and give each other tips on which builders to use, and where they can get bulk discounts if they buy materials as a group".

As part of the meeting they tour each others houses offering advise and in some cases criticism. "I realized that I'd made a mistake when my neighbor pointed out that I hadn't built a supporting wall in one part of my house. I'm glad he recognized the mistake for me early on otherwise the walls could not have taken the weight of the roof", explains Sunil.

Since December 2004 the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement collectively has either fully funded or co-financed the construction of 5,013 houses in Sri Lanka. 6,159 houses are currently under construction and by 2008 it is anticipated that the Red Cross will have contributed towards the construction of close to 30,000 homes.