The new Christian Aid video is now on YouTube. Beautifully filmed in India with one of our partners, the movie also makes great use of technology with the flying envelope. It's really worth a look as it tells a compelling story of how small individual actions make a difference.
unbelievably a year is almost up and I return to the North West of England to resume my work as the North West Unit Manager. The final weekend was spent taking a wonderful rest up in the hillcountry north of Kandy - the train journey up to Kandy remains spectacular and the tea estate bungalow was wonderfully restful.. apart from getting sunburnt beside the small swimming pool. This week has been hectic..... last minute meetings, trying to ensure that all the things I need to say are said (although many of you may doubt that I ever stop saying things...) In the past month or so I do really feel that I have made a small difference... having doubted this on numerous occasions.... some messages we have been trying to press home over the past year do finally seem to be getting through and I leave with some sense of achievment for my work with the National Christian Council - the YWCA are laying the foundation stone of their first house tomorrow... only another 64 to go!
Unfortunately the same can't be said for the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India who are struggling to get their houses finished. The ILO reports that Jaffna is functioning as a crisis economy with barter having resurfaced in many instances. Prices of many basic consumer goods are 300% above prices in Colombo and at a recent outbreak of 'chikungunya' paracetomol increased by 2500%. I am really sorry I haven't been able to visit them and give them the support they needed and deserved. Maybe next time?
Tonight I am emptying the flat of stuff other staff have asked for and then I'm going out with some of the staff for a Chinese. Tomorrow a final staff meeting with the Tsunami staff and a bbq with some friends - including prawns! Romy returns briefly here to return with me to the UK on Saturday - but not on the same flight - we can organise other but not ourselves...see you soon!
PS..Yesterday a rogue bean, that planted itself and I let it be, started flowering and with a bit of luck - and watering by the security guard of the apartment block - some beans will be growing by the time the owner returns to take up residence.
one thing I won't miss is the traffic. On Friday I left the flat at 5.30am to go with a party of Dutch Reform Church and others to hand over 25 houses to tsunami victims in a place just south of Galle - about 130km from Colombo. It took us about 3 hours to get there and over four hours to get back!
ACT through NCC had given funds to enable the DRC to buy land to build the houses. As I've said before the access to land has been a big issue and often land offered by the government has been unsuitable and needing a lot of money spent on filling it. So we arrived there in plenty of time for the start of the festivities with young children dressed as Kandyan dancers leading our 'delegation' into the new site where the houses have been built. We started with prayers and invocations from the Buddhist monks and the DRC before everyone (and I mean everyone) who had some part to play in the project was asked to say a 'few words'......two hours and 15 - or it could have been 20 - speeches later the people finally received a box of food items and we broke into three groups to go to all the houses - we cut the ribbons and presented the keys to the families. I chatted to one of the Muslim families and they were so excited to have their own house.... something they could never even have dreamed of before the tsunami. It is a strange paradox that - for many who survived the tsunami - they are better off now than before - at least in the south.
The continued upsurge in the fighting in the East means that many of the tsunami victims are again displaced by the fighting. Constant bombardments, increased numbers of disappearances and abductions has left many of these people terrified and destitute as they keep moving from place to place seeking safety. The NCC Churches in the East have established and are managing an IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp in Batticaloa - originally they planned for 110 families but this number has already been exceeded - many see the churches as offering sanctuary from the LTTE and other factions that recruit/abduct children to become soldiers. UNHCR have provided the tents and others water, roads and communal areas for cooking. NCC with ACT money has built toilets and is providing supplementary food rations for the elderly and pregnant mothers plus milk for children under 5. Weekly coordination meetings with local government and other NGOs ensures that everyone coordinates and agrees on the support they can give. Duplication is avoided and efficiency maximised. So as one ACT appeal begins to draw to an end another begins for the victims of the conflict.
So where was I - when I agreed to join the handing over ceremony of the houses I had been assured that we would be back by 5pm.... how silly of me to think this could possibly happen. I was supposed to be doing my last monthly interview with Wayne Clarke of Radio Merseyside and I suggested 7pm (1.30pm UK time) which gave me an allowance of 2hours. I had also invited some friends round for supper with Romy before he goes to the Philippines on Tuesday. At 5pm I text Romy to say I should be back by 6pm.... at 6pm I rang and asked him if he could start cooking for 'his' supper ... and at 6.55pm I rang him to say that if Wayne Clarke called I was within 5 minutes of the flat. I made the telephone interview.... and I just had time for a shower before the friends arrived... but when they saw me they did suggest they could take a walk around the block to give me time to dry off! However, Romy proved his cooking skills once again and requests were made for his Pork Adobo......
the plants are flourishing although the heat is over 35C at the moment. The owner of the house returns shortly after we leave and she has promised to look after them.... two weeks to go before i return to the UK.
After a very hectic two weeks in the UK and Geneva Iam back in Sri Lanka for the final few weeks with a heavy cold and feelings of panic as to how I can tie things up before I leave. Romy is with me and is working on a Terms of Reference with the NCCSL and ACT for the support he can offer over the next year on a 'visiting' basis. He will return to the Philippines in the middle of March to register his candicacy to run for Mayor of Damulog in the May 14 elections. The fact that this date is the Monday of Christian Aid Week has not passed me by. He will 'pass by' for me on the 24th March and we will both be back in the UK for a couple of weeks before he returns to the Philippines for the campaigning period. We have both been deeply touched by all the support so many of you have shown. It has really changed Romy's feelings - he truly believes that now he can survive and win! I hope so.... and he is planting lots of trees in Damulog to neutralise all the flights we're taking - all of you in Christian Aid Campaigns please note!
In the meantime the situation in Sri Lanka doesn't seem to be getting any better. The news is quite bleak with even diplomatics being caught up in an LTTE bombardment near Batticaloa. They were being shown around by the SL government - maybe they were trying to show how safe it is over there now?!
One of the key staff of the Dutch Reform Church has resigned and the new manager of the Tsunami Relief Unit was supposed to start on Monday March 5 but sent a letter today saying he'd accepted another job! One of the problems is that the UN is offering short-term contracts on salaries 4x what the NCCSL and it's members can offer - so people can earn more in 6 months than they can with NCC in 2 years.... which would you take? and with the Tsunami projects finishing in the next 12months anyway.....
So now we have to start again and find a new manager. But only 3 weeks to go.
And in case you are wondering - the remaining green vegetable plants survived our absence with help from the security guy in our apartment block and we feasted on them when we got back on Monday night ... and the Bourganvilleas are still flowering!
- we seem to be split personalities at the moment. The past week or so has seen Romy and I busy with workshops for the NCC on strengthening their organisation and at the same time trying to build up support for Romy. We have been overwhelmed by the support of friends and colleagues and Romy has been deeply affected by the support from Christian Aid staff and our friends in the North West. Aisha and Zac have been busy sending email petitions to friends... I'm not sure about the 'language' Zac uses in describing the mayor that Romy is up against.....but they are determined to get as many people around the world as they can to sign it so they can send it to the President of the Philippines. To say this is a difficult time would be an understatement and the daily news from the Philippines continues to be worrying. The relationships we have with the Muslims we have worked with through MuCAARD (Muslim-Christian Action for Advocacy, Relief and Development) over the past 25 years and the support they are also giving to Romy makes me so proud of the interfaith work we have been committed to for all these years.
In the meantime we have a meeting to attend in Geneva on the implementation of the 3rd year of the ACT Tsunami appeal. So this week has been meetings with the Churches and organisations in the NCCSL about the way the work is going. It's basically good news and they are all confident that they can complete the work they set out to do... except in the North where the conflict and the road closure is preventing any housing or or other constructions from happening. I'm already invited to attend the handover of 50 houses, built by the Methodists in the East, to the families on March 3. And today we had a meeting of all of the ACT members in Sri Lanka - so that includes Christian Aid, Norwegian Church Aid, DanChurch Aid (Denmark), UMCOR (United Methodists - USA), Diakonie from Germany and others to look at, amongst other things, how ACT members continue to meet and network when I'm no longer around to call the meetings. Actually not that difficult and I'm sure will happen.
But I just had enough time to visit catch a bus down to the market in Pettah and buy lots of material to have a dress, a couple of skirts and tops made before I finally leave in March. At less than a pound a metre I couldn't resist.
We leave tomorrow morning at 02.40am so will be in Manchester by lunchtime. Our friends in the Chester World Development Forum, the Debt Campaign and the Trade Justice groups have already planned a lunchtime meeting to show their support for Romy on Thursday.
Plants - just say bougainvilleas ...... correct spelling!
It's been a busy 10 days with Romy running two 3-day workshops over the past two weekends. These were aimed at helping the NCCSL staff, ExCom and committees to better understand the context in which they work both from a Christian and an organisational perspective. I have been staggered by the lack of knowledge of the young people of the history of their country and the conflict. But we have started them on a process where the journey will be as important as the arrival. Even the Bishop of Colombo participated and was pleased with process and methodology. The Bishop of Kurunegala and the Salvation Army have asked us to meet with them in the next couple of weeks.
We are also trying to respond to the IDPs in the East who number over 60,000. Three of the staff went over there early last week but had to turn back after a claymore mine killed 11 armed forces personnel on a bus and 1 civilian. They carried on the next day and are gathering information on the needs of the IDPs. The ICRC and the UN are providing the basic needs in terms of food and shelter but it is important to find where the gaps are and try to fill them. In one way its frustrating as the NCCSL wants to respond immediately - but they have to realise that they need to do this based on accurate information. It is no good filling a truck full of rice and arriving there to find that there is plenty of rice but no cooking utensils. Or arriving in a camp to find that they are being well catered for but there are small groups of families in church halls and schools that have been overlooked. The Church is well placed to hear and know about small groups who may not register with the Red Cross or the UN and are staying with relatives or in private houses. But the families sheltering them will have little extra to share and they need assistance too. Hopefully the staff will be back in Colombo next week and we can complete the proposal for assistance to send to ACT.
The last week has also been an important period for Buddhism and the country. Thursday was a special Poya Day (Full Moon) in the Buddhist calendar here in Colombo. For two nights there were huge processions(perahera) with 60 elephants, 100 troupes with more than 3000 dancers taking part. We had a debate over the security of going to watch it - it is always possible that the LTTE will attempt a dramatic statement at something like this - but in the end we decided to go.... staying away from the main gathering of important people and armed forces. It was extraordinary. The next day we went to see all the elephants in the park opposite our flat - being washed, scrubbed and fed....watching an elephant lying on its side while the mahoot scrubs him down - even behind the ears! I think I almost enjoyed that more than the parade.
Last night a group of 7 of us toured the city looking for a bar or club that would show the Calcutta Cup.... without success. Something to do with Sri Lanka using an Indian satellite and it being shown via Hongkong......but my son kept us informed of the score.... As a person with an Irish father of Scottish heritage and an English mother I could have confused loyalties ....... but Johnny's back! And today is Sri Lankan Independence Day. The President is currently on the television - they did have subtitles in English but appear to have given up on it - but it is being translated into Tamil. All the roads around the area are closed until 10am (or later) but we are going in the opposite direction..... to the beach!
just transplanted some plants into bigger pots - I need to find out how long the gap is between us leaving and the owners coming back.... they must survive!
only two months to go and suddenly time seems to be rushing past me. I seem to be doing a great deal of management 'stuff' at the moment. The manager of the Tsunami Relief Unit (TRU) of the NCCSL did not renew his contract at Christmas - or did not have his contract renewed - more likely the second one but the first one a 'face saver'. One of the young men working in the East decided not to renew his contract as he was being increasingly questioned at the checkpoints as to why he comes to Colombo so often - young men are at risk from being abducted by the LTTE or Karuna faction or seen by the SLA as a possible informer/LTTE infiltrator. But he didn't tell anyone this until he refused his new contract! There was no reason why he had to come so often to Colombo and we could have found other ways round it - but too late. So they have managed to recruit two new field officers for the East and a new Regional coordinator - but as there's no manager in the unit it is left to me to give them an induction. Actually they're getting a lot of support from the other staff but someone needs to be responsible for the whole unit... and it isn't supposed to be me!
Romy is back here with me for a while - which is nice! He's already been asked by the General Secretary of the NCCSL to run a three day workshop to help the entire staff get a broader understanding of the context in which they're working. Simple then! We're also working with some of the staff to improve their project proposal writing, reporting and monitoring skills. Practically we've decided to write an appeal to ACT to respond to the annual natural ( floods, landslides and droughts) and man-made (20 years of armed conflict)disasters. Every year they write an appeal for a sudden disaster - not, thankfully, on the scale of the Tsunami - and every year they need support for the victims of the conflict. But by the time a proposal is written, commented on, rewritten and sent out - it's a bit late. ~so I'm working with them to produce an appeal that allows them to be prepared for the disasters they can predict will happen... and also to work to try and lessen their impact. That's easier for the natural disasters... not so easy for the conflict. The NCCSLjust sent a truckload of clothes and relief items, donated by the Colombo congregations, to the East where thousands of people are in IDP camps after escaping the fighting.
Meanwhile, the new one-way system in Colombo is still going - the three-wheeler drivers are doing their very best to convince us that their fares have had to go up - but I have a cunning plan.... I take a taxi on the route which tells me what the fare rate is! Then I can haggle to the last 10Rupees (5p) for a reasonable rate. 3-wheelers are the same price as a taxi - the reason we use them - you can hail a 3-wheeler but you have to call for a taxi....and that can take 10 - 15 minutes (or 45minutes the other night).
The garden ..... hmmm possibly best just to let it fade away - apart from the Bougainvillias (or however you spell it)?
of the New Year Sri Lanka seems to be beginning a new phase of the conflict - up to now I've always explained that the LTTE only go for military targets, but the attacks on two buses here in the West and South seems to signal a change in their tactics. Then today a report of an attack on an electricity transformer just north of Colombo... and there I was moaning that the internet connection had gone down. The Bishop of Colombo has written a really stinging rebuke of this latest upsurge in violence - but is anyone listening? and of course it's always the innocent who suffer the most and no-one knows who to trust. A story of a young Muslim boy caught in the bus blast in the South being attacked by a Sinhalese mob as he ran from the bus with his friends - because they were talking in Tamil - so the assumption...they must be Tamils - and if you're a Tamil - you must be an LTTE supporter. Simplistic - of course. The Muslims of the North and East speak Tamil too, many Tamils do not support the LTTE and the space for people of peace seems to be narrowing even further.
On more mundane things - Colombo has intiated a new one-way traffic system which is a good excuse for three-wheeler drivers to up their fares and for people who've been away over the Christmas period to get the fright of their lives as they face traffic hurtling down the 'wrong' side of the dual carriageway on the Galle Road. However, it doesn't make any difference to anyone when you're stuck in a traffic jam awaiting 'the President's pleasure'.... for security reasons all roads within the vicinity of his travel plans are closed if he's driving across Colombo. However, I still haven't worked out where to catch the 155 bus from now. I used to catch it back to my flat if I'd been to a shopping mall called Majestic City on the Galle Road .... but given the attacks on buses it may be more prudent use three-wheelers and taxis more. Six rupees on a bus and Rs200 in a taxi.....a three-wheeler will try to charge even more. I do use a three-wheeler to go to the office - the driver is called Mohammed and the registration of his 3-wheeler starts with GB.... so what could I do! Mohammed waits for me outside the flat every morning and, in contrast to what I've just said about them, I give him more than he asks! He is just charging me the local rate - but I feel bad that I have to (believe me there's certain point at which the bargaining ceases to be fun) give other drivers more for the same run - and how can I 'penalise' his honesty?
Plants? Still alive - if depleted. I'm concentrating on getting a good show of colours on the Bourgainvillias - if that's how to spell it. Brother left today, mother on Thursday and Romy's back on Monday.......
and one to go... my mother arrived for a month last Friday, my daughter on Monday and my brother arrives tomorrow. Despite concerns from her friends my mother apparantly has complete confidence in me and told them that "My daughter wouldn't let me come if it wasn't safe" which considering she used to come and visit us during Martial Law in the Philippines is, I'd say, a vote of confidence!
and suddenly Christmas is here... I came to the office at the National Christian Council this morning and the road beside the park is lined with people selling Christmas trees and branches of pine trees ... the smell of the pine was what made me notice them. Tucked into a three-wheeler it is sometimes hard to notice much around you, except the closeness of the vehicles passing you on the left and the right or jockeying for position with your dirver at least 10 seconds before the traffic lights are anticipated to change.... the tooting of the horns starts with 5 seconds to go. And now the shopping malls are lit up and and even a few of the streets and roundabouts. However, the weather is not currently doing it's part. We have had over a week now of constantly overcast skies which isn't quite the agreement for Christmas in a tropical country... but compared to freezing fog and being stuck at Healthrow airport, which CNN tells me is happening today, we are still warm!
Yesterday we went to the Christmas (we - meaning my mother and daughter came too) celebrations at the YWCA where carols were sung and prayers were said for Sri Lanka and for peace. In the past the two sides in the conflict declare a cease fire over the Christmas period... but when neither side admits to a breakdown in the Cease Fire Agreement - how can they declare a cease fire?
For many thousands of people here in Sri Lanka this Christmas there will be no place for them to lay their heads or shelter from the rain - heavy rains in the East are making the plight of the families fleeing the continued fighting even more desperate. This year the words Happy Christmas and a Peaceful 2007 are being said and prayed for with a particular urgency here.
A Blessed Christmas and may the world know more peace in 2007.
It seems like I haven't stopped travelling for the past two weeks so apologies for not updating you. I am currently sitting in Liverpool staying with Aisha and Zac. I spent the last two days in Geneva having meetings with ACT on the revision of the tsunami appeal and updating them on the situation in Sri Lanka. But I see an email this morning from the Christian Aid office in Colombo that there was another bomb yesterday - close enough for them to see the smoke from it... unfortunately not unexpected as the LTTE marked Heroes Day on November 28 and this is usually accompanied by increased attacks. The target was the Minister of Defense who is the brother of the President. No-one was killed but 14 were injured.
Before coming to the UK and Geneva I had spent four days visiting the East and South. As I said in my last blog this was a visit to enable other members of ACT to see the work being done and for me to see the changes that have happened since I was last there a month after the Tsunami. In Komari it was wonderful to see a thriving community again - when I was there in January 2005 there was nothing left apart from a few damaged houses and a a still standing sign showing where the Methodist Day Centre had been. It was a ghost community. Today there is a brand new training and community centre with a new playground for the children. There is a new community store run by the young people serving a community of 357 families. Before Tsunami there was no store an people had to travel to the next village. As we were leaving school classes were finishing and it was great to see so many children walking down the road - and the Methodist minister pointed out that they were all wearing shoes that we had provided! We also visited another Day Care centre attended by 28 children under the age of 5. Of the 28 only two are Christian - the Church is based in a desperately poor Tamil Hindu village. Offering this day care programme ensures the children get one good meal a day and enables the parents to work as day labourers in the near by quarry. Not an easy life but by helping to give the children a good start we are hopefully encouraging the parents to see the importance of education.
We were also privileged to attend the hand over of the first two of 101 houses the Methodist Church are building with ACT money. The first one was given to an elderly couple who had survived because they were at Church when the Tsunami struck; wiping out their home and their village. They had lived in a 'wattle and daub' house and now they have a two-bedroomed 'proper' house. At 68 the husband is still having to work as a 'coolie' fetching and carrying in a local grocery store. It was good to see that we are helping the poorest of the poor.
Now I am enjoying a few days with my family (excluding Romy who is working weith MuCAARD in the Philippines) and I fly back on Sunday. But my daughter, my brother and my mother are all coming out for Christmas.... and my mum had already asked me to carry out the Christmas cake?!
I'm not thinking about my garden at the flat in Colombo - plants can't trhive without water...........
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