24-hour service: Local churches at the forefront of providing assistance to survivors

By Janke Thorell, Church of Sweden Aid/ACT International

Tangalle, Sri Lanka, April 5, 2005 - There is 24-hour service at the Methodist church where the Reverend Surangika Ferando serves as pastor. Hundreds of people come every day hoping to get some assistance. Those who have not been affected physically have been affected emotionally and mentally.

The church is located in Tangalle, a town on Sri Lanka's southern coast which was badly damaged by the December 26 tsunami. After a few months of hard work and dealing with endless needs, Ferando is getting tired. The situation is repeated for the Reverend Anil Silva, who pastors the Methodist church in the nearby town of Matara.

There are no jobs available. Hotels have closed, leaving staff unemployed. Buses were destroyed, leaving many drivers, conductors and others jobless. About 180 shops in Tangalle have not been open since December 26. Business operators have approached the town’s Inter-religious Human Rights Organization after they failed to get loans from the banks. Many people have lost everything. Since the disaster struck, survivors have received assistance with shelter, food and water, but the trauma is still there - and lingers with nothing to do but cause them great distress.

"I know several who have turned to drugs to try to eliminate the pain," Ferando says.

Some survivors are receiving trauma counseling, but Ferando received limited instruction in this area. And the present situation is unlike anything else.

"None of us has been through anything like this. What can we say?" asks Ferando.

However, Ferando knows the church must do what it can. Churches like his have been distributing many items to small businesses, such as scales to market vendors, carpentry tools, and bicycles for people who need to be mobile in their businesses. But fishermen compose most of the population in the affected coastal areas, and in Tangalle alone, more than 200 boats were destroyed.

"We can assist with small-scale projects," Ferando says. "But we are ordinary people and can't write proposals for million of rupees. We don't know how to do it."

In Hambantota, the Anglican Church is trying to help residents return to their normal lives. As a member of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), which in turn is a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, the Church has prepared long lists of the needs in its area. Some items have already been distributed. For example, tarpaulins have been given mainly to women who trade vegetables from their gardens at the marketplace, where all kiosks and stalls close to the beach were swept away by the tsunami, taking the only source of income for many along with it. Now, these women can start to earn their living again.

In another project, the Anglican Church is helping people make bricks for the construction of new houses. The Church has also assisted some fishermen in repairing their boats and has started to produce 50 canoes to support the fishermen's livelihood.

The Reverend Upul Fernando is saddened that survivors are still living in camps. They are suffering, and the camps are not a proper way of living, he says.

Despite the overwhelming needs, churches are still one of the best institutions to offer assistance because of their location in many communities. And they have been there since those first traumatic days after the tsunami hit, offering help and hope, often around the clock.